The Tale of Kawarama Senju
by CrimsonHydra2208
Summary: Follow Kawarama and his friends on their journey through the Ninja world
1. The Tale of Kawarama Senju

**Author's Note: Hello everyone and welcome to my first fanfiction. I'm not overly confident of my writing skills so I hope everything is...accurate. Thanks for reading.**

"Talking"

 _'thinking'_

" **DEMON"**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters (if I did I certainly wouldn't be writing fanfictions about it)**

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It was a peaceful day in The Village Hidden in the Leaves. The Second Shinobi World War had passed into history and the day had finally come for a new generation of young people to begin the long, and sometimes painful, journey towards becoming a Ninja.

Kawarama stood outside the academy with his mother and father, eager and ready – well, almost ready – for his first day. Fair-skinned, with unusually grey shaggy hair but dark-eyed, just like his father, the boy wore plain blue trousers and a simple, short-sleeved blue shirt kimono with mesh armour underneath, held closed by a pale yellow sash. He was excited and more than a little bit fidgety as his mother fussed around him, straightening his clothes. He squirmed. "Come _on_ Mum, lessons will be starting soon." His mother, Kaiyumi, smiled. "Oh come onKawarama," she said, smiling. "Can't a mother make sure her little man is prepped and ready for his first day?" The boy finally stopped fidgeting and looked at her, dolefully. "I suppose not. But hurry up. I want to get to class." The boy's father, a tall man with jet-black hair, smiled. "Come on son, don't be like that." He paused, looking at his wife. "Your mother's just being...well...a mother," he added, still smiling. Then he looked up at the clear blue sky. "But the boy has a point," he said. "Time's getting on. How about we let him head to class now?" His wife pouted, then smiled before wishing her son well and giving him a big – and so Kawarama thought – embarrassing hug. Almost as quickly he was released he was whirled around and shoved in the direction of the academy's large front doors. Before entering he turned and gave a final wave. His parents waved back. Then he was gone.

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Inside the academy Kawarama walked down endless corridors before finally reaching his designated classroom. He entered and looked around. Every desk was occupied, bar one – his. He was pleased to realise he recognised some familiar faces. Over there was a large Akimichi, there a sleeping Nara, a Yamanaka, then in a corner a bunch of white-eyed Hyuga, as well as a couple of dark-haired, dark-eyed Uchiha. Rocking backwards and forwards in a chair was an Inuzuka with a black ninja hound with a white underside sitting on her head, while a shade-wearing Aburame sat staring out at the village. The face that he was happiest to see was that of as his best friend Minato, a cheerful blue-eyed, spiky blonde-haired boy with jaw-length bangs framing his narrow face. Kawarama smiled at his friend before running over and jumping into the seat next to him. "Hey Minato, I can't believe it, soon we'll be Ninja," he exclaimed. Minato smiled. "Yeah, but we have to get through six years of this academy before that happens." Kawarama laughed. "Aw, that'll be easy for the two of us."

Before Minato could reply the door to the classroom slid open and a tall man in chunin attire and wearing a pair of old-fashioned sunglasses stepped in. He stood still, looking at the classroom. The youngsters immediately quietened and sat still in their seats. The man walked slowly to the desk at the front of the classroom. He turned and addressed the room. "Alright class, welcome to the academy. My name is Shiro Aburame and I will be your teacher while you are here. Now, we are each going to introduce ourselves with our name, tell the rest of the class what we like and what we don't like, along with any ambitions you may have. Why? So that we can all get to know who we are and what we are about. We will go in alphabetical order." Kawarama had expected his new teacher to tell the class about himself, but instead Shiro looked down at the heavy register he held open in his hands, noting a lot of prestigious clan members in the large book. _'This should_ _be interesting,'_ Shiro thought to himself. He then began to read out names: "First up is Shibi Aburame".

Shibi had very spiky, short black hair and wore the typical dark glasses and high-collared jacket of the Aburame clan. He stood and walked nonchalantly to the front of the class, his hands shoved deep in his pockets. "My name is Shibi Aburame. I like my Kikaichu beetles. I dislike people who hate insects for stupid reasons and my ambition is to become the next leader of the Aburame clan." He then walked back to his seat, his hands still in his pockets. "Next up is Choza Akimichi," said Shiro. A plump boy with spiky red hair and purple markings on his cheeks stood and walked to the front of the class. "My name is Choza Akamichi. I like barbeque and well...practically all kinds of foods. I dislike people who go on diets and my ambition is to become the next head of the Akamichi clan." He then walked back to his seat.

Shiro then looked at the name of the next youngster on the register. The boy in question was fast asleep in a chair at the back of the room. "SHIKAKU NARA!" shouted Shiro. All that came back was a light snoring noise. Choza, sitting next to Shikaku, nudged him awake. The dozing boy looked puzzled for a moment, then frowned at Shiro. _'What a very_ _un-Aburame thing to do,'_ Shibi thought. Meanwhile Shikaku was struggling to get his bearings. "What is it?" he asked. Shiro looked cross: "Please come to the front and introduce yourself." Shikaku clambered to his feet. He had dark eyes and dark hair tied up in a spiky ponytail that made his head look like a pineapple. When he finally shuffled his way to the front of the class he said: "My name is Shikaku Nara. My likes include cloud watching and napping." The class laughed and Shikaku merely rolled his eyes. "My dislikes include anything even slightly troublesome. My ambition is to be the next Nara clan head." He smiled sleepily and returned to his seat where he promptly went back to sleep. Shiro glared at the boy, then shook himself, sighed and moved onto the next name. "Minato Namikaze". Minato bounced out of his chair and walked jauntily to the front of the class. "My name is Minato Namikaze. I like my friend Kawarama and helping those precious to me. I dislike people who treat life without care or respect and my ambition is to one day become Hokage." Minato looked expectantly at Shiro, who nodded. The boy smiled and returned to his chair.

"Next up, Hiashi Hyuga!" A Hyuga boy sporting long black hair stood up and walked to the front. In a monotone voice he said: "My name is Hiashi Hyuga. I like tradition and people who head it. I dislike insolent people who think they can avoid fate. My ambition is to become the next head of the Hyuga clan." He then went back to his seat. Kawarama leaned over to Minato. "Looks like another stick-up-the-arse Hyuga," he whispered. "I feel sorry for who ends up on his team when we become genin." Minato grinned. "You and me both," he whispered back.

Shiro read out another name. "Hitomi Hyuga". A fair-skinned girl with shoulder-length hair the colour of aubergines and bangs of similar length framing her face walked to the front of the room. "Hello, my name is Hitomi Hyuga. I like my sister Hizumi and pressing flowers. I dislike mean people and weeds and my ambition is to become a great kunoichi." She then skipped back to her seat.

"Next up is Hizumi Hyuga". A girl similar in appearance to Hitomi but with shorter hair hesitantly walked to the front of the class. She stood staring at the class for a minute, nervously twisting a chord hanging from her tunic. Shiro cleared his throat as a signal for the girl to start talking. "Um...my name is H-Hizumi H-Hyuga...I have similar likes and dislikes to m-my sister...H-Hitomi...I also have the same ambition." She then hurried back to seat so quickly that most of the class didn't see her move. "She seems quite shy," whispered Minato. Kawarama merely thought she was cute.

"Can we next have Hizashi Hyuga please?" Shiro said. A boy who looked like a mirror image of Hiashi, save for a black cloth band covering his forehead, walked to the front. Like Hitomi he stood staring at the class, but he clearly was not nervous. In fact he was anything but. Indeed his face bore an expression of defiance. "My name is Hizashi Hyuga," he said, boldly. "My likes are similar to my brother Hiashi's. However I am not so...harsh in my dislikes, my ambition is...to be...free." At this all the Hyuga members tensed. Shiro scribbled something into the register.

"...Alright, next up is Tsume Inuzuka." Barely had Shiro finished saying her name than Inuzuka leapt to the front of the room. She had long, spikey, untamed brown hair, the pupils of her eyes mere vertical slits. Her cheeks bore her clan's signature fang markings. "My name is Tsume Inuzuka and this here," gesturing to the dog sitting on her head, "is Kuromaru." The dog gave an assertive 'woof'. "My likes include going on walks with Kuromaru and protecting the village. My dislikes include people who try to harm or abandon the pack and my ambition is to become the next Head of the Inuzuka clan." She then walked back to her seat, her head – atop which still sat the dog – held high and her back straight as bamboo."Typical Inuzuka," sighed Shiro to himself.

"OK Kawarama Senju, you're up next." Kawarama walked to the front. "My name is Kawarama Senju, grandson of the Second Hokage: Tobirama Senju. Don't forget that. I like spending time with my friend Minato and protecting the people precious to me. I dislike those who try to hurt those precious to me and arrogant people who think they're better than everyone else. My ambition is to one day be known as a hero." When he finished he noticed one of the Uchiha staring daggers at him, but he ignored the gesture and walked back to his seat. "Thank you Kawarama," said Shiro, readjusting his shades and again, noting something in the register.

"Next is Fugaku Uchiha." The Uchiha who was staring at Kawarama stood up and walked to the front of the class. The boy had short, black hair that reached his shoulders and a lined face that looked too old for someone of his tender years. His onyx-coloured eyes had visible creases below them. "My name is Fugaku Uchiha. I like my clan and my village. I dislike weak people who have no respect for their betters. My ambition is to become the next Uchiha clan head." As he finished he glared at Kawarama again before returning to his seat. _'_ _I have a feeling this class is going to be difficult,'_ thought Shiro.

"OK...next is Mikoto Uchiha." A fair-skinned girl with long, straight black hair and bangs hanging on either side of her face skipped to the front of the class. "My name is Mikoto Uchiha. I like my family and friends and I dislike people who think that the Uchiha clan are all horrible people. My ambition is to be able to call myself a proud Kunoichi of the Uchiha clan." She beamed at the class, then went back to her seat in the same high-spirited fashion as she'd left it.

"Now, last but not least, can we please have Inoichi Yamanaka." Inoichi walked to the front. He had long ash-blonde hair, spiky on the top and ending in a ponytail. His blue-green eyes blazed at the crowded classroom, his strong jaw jutting towards the other students. "My name is Inoichi Yamanaka." He paused. "I like spending time in my family's flower shop. I dislike flower critics and my ambition is to become the next head of the Yamanaka clan." He looked around the room and then returned to his seat.

"Well that was blissfully short," thought Shiro before he went to stand behind his desk. He looked slowly around the room, wondering who of those before him would survive the next six years and who would fall by the wayside.

"Alright. Now that the introductions are finally out of the way, we shall begin with today's lesson."

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 **A/N: And so concludes the first chapter of my story, I hope you liked it. As I said feel free to give any suggestions that I can do, I will take everything into consideration. I will upload new chapters when ever possible.**


	2. A New Arrival

**A/N: Here is the second chapter of my story. The first few chapters will be non-negotiable but don't worry, everything after team selection is up for alteration.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters (if I did a certain Danzo Shimura would have died in the first chapter/episode)**

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It was a bright and sunny morning in the Hidden Leaf Village and many villagers and Shinobi alike were already up and about getting on with their day-to-day routine. Except, that is, for a certain grey-haired Senju who was laying sprawled out on his bed. "Kawarama! It's time to get up! You need to head out early today!" called Kaiyumi from the kitchen. Kawarama groaned, but slowly proceeded to get up and get dressed into his Academy attire before heading down to the kitchen where Kaiyumi was currently cooking up breakfast. Kawarama's mother moved about the room quickly, her long bright red hair flaying about as she quickly moved to and fro, while his father sat waiting at the table. "Ah good morning sport, did you sleep well?" he asked his son. "Yeah, I guess so," replied Kawarama as he sat down. Once Kaiyumi had finished cooking she served up breakfast. Looking at her tired son she smiled. "Come on Kawarama, you've been going to the Academy for just over a year now. Where's all that energy gotten to?" She slid eggs, baked-beans and bacon onto plates in front of her son and husband, receiving a collective 'thank you' from Kawarama and his father. "Oh by the way, Itama, the Hokage came by yesterday. He said he needed to talk to you about the next chunin selection exam," said Kaiyumi. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot, the exams are in a couple of months," Itama replied as he sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "Well you should go talk to him as soon as possible then. And Kawarama, your great-aunt wants to see you before you go to the Academy today." Kawarama, who was stuffing his face with baked-beans, looked up. "Is dat why you go' me up so ear-ow?" There was a thwacking sound and the boy cradled his throbbing head after Kaiyumi bashed it with a wooden spoon. "Don't talk with your mouth full! But yes, that's why I got you up."She rose from the table and carried the plates to the sink. "Alright," said Kawarama. "I'll head to great-aunt Mito's house now then." And with that he was gone.

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Senju compound where Kawarama and his family lived was relatively small-especially compared to the Uchiha compound which was practically like a village all on its own but it was big enough to show that the Senju were an important clan. It was made up of a large open space like a town centre surrounded by multiple houses of varying shapes and sizes, the compound was surrounded by a wall at least 12ft in height with a large open gateway leading into the centre enabling easy entry and exit. Kawarama's family lived in one of the more...simple households, primarily because his mother 'didn't want anything too fancy'. However on the opposite side of the compound square to the entrance there was a very large house with a whirlpool-like swirl above the door. The Crest of the Uzumaki clan. Kawarama entered the house and quickly ran down the main hallway, after removing his sandles. Once he reached a certain room that had the Senju Crest on the door he paused and attempted to calm his breathing so as to make it seem like he hadn't just bolted into the house as fast as he could, before he finally entered.

The room was fairly simple with all the necessities you'd expect of a bedroom. More or less in the centre backed up against the left wall there was a woman sat up in her bed. It was obvious that she had been around for a long time as her face was fairly wrinkled, her hair was maroon and appeared to hang down here back, some of her hair was also arranged in two buns. She wore a simple loose fitting kimono held closed by a simple dark-coloured obi, on her forehead she bore a violet-coloured diamond which Kaiyumi had told Kawarama was a means of storing chakra that only a select few knew how to do. Kawarama quickly greeted her "hey aunt Mito, how are you?" he said as he walked to her bedside. Mito smiled at him as she replied "oh I'm quite alright thank you", she was glad he remembered her request that he call her aunt rather than great-aunt, she didn't need any more reminders of her age. When Kawarama reached the bed side he decided to cut to the chase. "So...my Mum said you needed to talk to me about something" he said, "ah yes. Well, do you remember when I told you about the Nine-Tailed Fox?" She knew everything involving the Tailed-beast was a lot for such a young boy to have to learn, but she considered it to be necessary for him to have an uninfluenced view on the colossal creature. Kawarama nodded unsure of where this was going. "Well, when I'm gone the beast will die with me. However he will re-materialise a few years later and no-doubt wreak havoc on the village. To prevent this from happening we must move him to a new host. Do you understand?" Kawarama again nodded his anxiety growing, "I understand but...what does this have to do with me?" he asked, attempting to not look worried. However thanks to the Nine-Tails Mito was able to sense negative emotions and so quickly decided to put them to rest "do not fear child, you will not become the next jinchuriki" Kawarama let go of the breath he didn't realise he was holding.

But then realisation dawned on him. "But...if not me...then...who?" he asked hesitantly. Mito sighed heavily before replying "a young girl from the Hidden Whirlpool Village with exceptional chakra, even for an Uzumaki" Kawarama was shocked to say the least. The idea of a young girl becoming the host of such a terrible force was just unthinkable. But before he could object Mito quickly continued "now, before you say anything allow me to explain. My life is drawing to a close which means we must find a new vessel soon. This girl is the best candidate. Thanks to her rare chakra it will be easier for her to contain the Nine-Tails. Which then brings me to why I summoned you. You are half Uzumaki and roughly the same age as her. I ask that you watch over and look after her, she will be a stranger in a foreign land, she will need someone to trust indefinitely. Can you do this for me?" Kawarama immediately agreed. He would protect this girl with his life. Satisfied with Kawarama's response Mito continued "I understand that you have just been made aware of this but know that your duty may begin earlier than you think" Kawarama looked at Mito with a confused expression that she couldn't help but chuckle at. "The Hokage is currently waiting for her at the gate, I advise you get there before she arrives" this seemed to take a few moments for Kawarama to register before... "WHAT!, no this isn't good what kind of impression will I give if I'm late, ohcrapohcrapohcrap!" he shouted as he flew out of the room. Mito just chuckled. But then she realised she had forgotten to mention something. "W-wait Kawarama I didn't tell you her name!" but it was too late he was long gone. "Oh dear" she muttered.

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When Kawarama finally reached the main gate of the village he noticed the Hokage was waiting for him. But instead of lecturing him about punctuality or how tired he looked (which he had associated with the man) the Hokage simply smiled at him. He had tanned-skin and dark brown hair with a small goatee, he also had two lines running vertically under the outer corners of each eye that reached only a few centimetres down. He wore the typical Hokage robes and appeared to be in the middle of reading through a yellow scroll. "Hey Lord Hokage, it's nice to see you again" greeted Kawarama, The Hokage continued to smile as he replied "hello Kawarama it is nice to see you too. I trust Lady Mito has fully informed you of the situation" he said before his expression became serious. Kawarama slightly flinched under his gaze. Sometimes he forgot that such a friendly man was in fact one of the most legendary ninja in history, hailed as the great Professor. "yeah she did" he replied, but then blinked and immediately face-palmed "ah man I forgot to ask Mito what the girl's name was" The Hokage chuckled then turned to the gate "well you can ask her yourself" as he gestured to two figures approaching the gate before he continued reading through the scroll. Kawarama kept his gaze on the two figures. One was an Anbu member with a bear mask and the other was a girl, roughly his age, just like Mito said, who clung to the Anbu's hand. She had a round face, with her fiery red hair that naturally framing both sides of her face, which made her look a bit like a tomato though he quickly dismissed this thought and vowed never to call her such in case he hurt her feelings. She wore a long purple kimono with short white sleeves held closed by a small black obi. As they approached the Anbu and the Hokage exchanged a nod before the Anbu let go of the girl's hand and shunshined away. The Hokage then stepped forward "Hello there my name is Hiruzen Sarutobi I am The Third Hokage. This boy here is Kawarama. You will be living with him and his family for the foreseeable future" he said before gesturing to Kawarama who was a little surprised to hear that this girl would be staying with him, but he quickly smiled "hey, Kawarama Senju, it's nice to meet you" the girl's eyes widened when she realised just who she would be staying with, the Senju clan were famous especially in the Hidden Whirlpool Village seeing as they were distant blood relatives of the Uzumaki clan "m-my name is Kushina Uzumaki...y'know" she said hesitantly. "Nice to meet you" Kawarama replied with a large smile on his face. Hiruzen then said "Kawarama, why don't you go and show her around the compound and introduce her to your mother and father. Once you've done that bring her to Lady Mito, she will take it from there". Kawarama smiled before saying "that's a great idea, thanks Lord Hokage" he then ran up to Kushina and grabbed hold of her hand before marching back to the Senju compound, "this'll be great, I have a hunch you and my Mum will get along really well".

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 **A/N: That ends the second chapter, hoped you liked it. Stay tuned for the next chapter but for now...that's all folks**


	3. Tomatoes and Seals

**A/N: Hello once again my friends, here is the next chapter in Kawarama's tale.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters.**

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"Come on Kushina, hurry up," called Kawarama as he and Kushina ran towards the Senju compound. Kushina was finding it difficult to keep up with Kawarama. It did not help that he would not let go of her hand, causing her to almost trip on a number of occasions. "Um could we slow down please?" she asked. Kawarama immediately slowed down to a slow walk. "Jeez I'm sorry, I'm just so excited. It will be great to have someone my age around the house," he said, a large grin on his face. When they reached the compound Kushina couldn't help but let her jaw drop; she had seen clan compounds before but compared to the ones in the Hidden Whirlpool this was huge. "It's...so big" she stated. "Heh this is nothing," you should see the Uchiha compound, it's like it's own separate village" Kawarama replied. Kushina was astounded. The idea of such a huge compound for a single clan just seemed too much. When they reached Kawarama's home it wasn't quite what she was expecting, namely a large over-the-top house with all kinds of expensive commodities. Instead, what she saw was almost the complete opposite. An average-sized house with a single floor, the only difference between it and any other house in the Hidden Leaf being the presence of the Senju clan crest above the door. The inside of the house was just as simple as the outside. Kawarama noticed her confused expression and decided to explain. "My Mum has never really liked the big over the top houses of most prestigious clans, so we live here. It's not bad in anyway. If you ask me, it's probably because she doesn't like the emptiness, I kind of feel the same way." It certainly made sense, but Kushina still found it a little odd.

When they reached the kitchen they found both Itama and Kaiyumi sitting at the table. "Hey Mum, hey...wait a sec...Dad!? Didn't the Hokage want to see you?" Kawarama asked, confused as to why his father was still at home when he apparently had a very important meeting to attend. "Oh, yeah well, the Hokage wasn't in his office, but his assistant told me to head home as we should be expecting a visitor," clarified Itama. "Oh right, well her she is," Kawarama replied as he gestured to Kushina. "Mum, Dad, this is Kushina" Kushina hesitantly came out from where she had shied away behind the door. "Um...hello" she said. Kaiyumi immediately leapt out of her chair. "Aww she's so cuuute!" she exclaimed while Kushina's eyes merely widened to a point you'd think was impossible. "You...you're a...an..." she stammered. Kaiyumi looked at her quizzically before turning to Kawarama, who simply indicated to Kushina's fiery red hair. "Oh, so you're an Uzumaki too then, you must be from the Hidden Whirlpool Village," said Kaiyumi. Kushina nodded in response. Kaiyumi's smile widened. "I guess that means we're related, even if it's distant." Kushina smiled a little at this, _'so even here, I still have family',_ She thought. "So what are you doing here?" asked Itama. Kushina then let her eyes drop to look at the floor. "Well, I'm not actually sure, other than that I'm supposed to stay with all of you." At hearing this Kawarama's eyes widened. "Wait, You mean no-one even told you why you're here?" he asked. Kushina shook her head. "Do you young man?" asked Kaiyumi. "Um, yeah. Aunt Mito told me," he replied as his face became solemn. Kaiyumi and Itama both exchanged a glance while one thought ran through both their minds. _'So she is the new vessel'._ For a few minute there was silence, before Kaiyumi finally spoke. "Well, Kushina you are very welcome to stay here. But right now, why don't you go and speak to Aunt Mito, she will tell you why you're here."Kushina, nodded before being led off by Kawarama.

A few minutes later they were walking down the hall of the Uzumaki house when something caught Kushina's eye. Just of to the side there was another short corridor and at the end a large wooden door that seemed rather out of place. On the door was a carving of a man on a large lake who she guessed was a Shinobi since his hands were in a seal, although she did not recognise it. It was with his hands together, index and middle fingers crossed, ring and pinky fingers pointing up, almost like a backwards tiger seal. Around him were two dragons, seemingly made of water spiralling upwards from the lakes surface and forming a double helix pattern around the Shinobi.

It was certainly a beautiful carving. "What's this?" she asked. Kawarama, who had walked on a few steps, turned before replying. "I'm not sure. All I know is that there is something special inside, something that my Dad won't let me see 'til I'm a genin." Kushina gazed at the door for a short while before continuing on. The pair soon found themselves outside Mito's room, but before they could ask for permission to enter they heard a strained "come in". Kawarama gave Kushina a reassuring smile before they both entered. Mito was again sitting in her bed but now her feet were over the side. "Ah here you are," she said. "Now, come closer my dear," she said and Kushina quickly obliged. When Kushina reached Mito she took Kushina's hand in her own. "Now, I shall explain to you why you are really here." Kushina's eyes widened. Finally she would find out what she was doing in the Hidden Leaf Village. Behind her Kawarama's expression turned solemn.

* * *

By the time Mito had finished Kushina was in tears. She was on her knees and crying into Mito's lap. Kawarama felt like his heart was being wrenched from his chest, all he wanted to do was comfort her; after all they were technically family - though distant - and Kawarama always hated seeing his friends and family upset. However he knew that Mito still had a few things to say so he kept quiet, for the time being. "You know, we are alike, you and I. I was also brought here to be the Nine-Tails' vessel, but I can only imagine the shock you are feeling after hearing this or the sadness that now claws at your heart...Come on dear you can tell me the truth, you don't have to hold everything inside" she said.

Kushina slowly raised her head, tears still streaming down her face, while Mito's expression was one that donned a warm and inviting smile. "Now listen closely, neither of us could escape our fates as the Nine-Tails' vessel. However, there is something you must understand, there is a way to find happiness even if you must live as a Jinchuriki." Kushina's teary eyes widened a little, as she realised she may still be able to be happy. "And the first step to finding happiness...is to fill ourselves...with love."

Kushina's eyes widened further, at the prospect of something so simple and yet so difficult to achieve. "How...am I suppose...to do that?" she asked through sobs, while her tears halted for the time being. Still wearing a smile Mito answered. "Well. You always have your family" she said as she looked up, Kushina followed her gaze to Kawarama who gave a loving smile. "My Mum, Dad and me are here for you. You can start with us." Hearing this caused Kushina's tears to return, but for different reasons, as she ran full pelt into Kawarama hugging him tightly, the force knocking him to the ground with Kushina on top of him. "Thank you! thank you! thank you!" she said as she cried into his kimono.

Kawarama continued to smile as he hugged her back. "You're welcome," he said. Mito merely chuckled at their antics before she again spoke. "Now that you know where to find love we should go on to the details and what you will be doing while you are here." By the time Mito finished both Kawarama and Kushina were up and listening intently while Kushina wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Tomorrow you shall be attending the Ninja Academy as a transfer student. This will not only maintain your appearance of a normal person, but it will also allow you to become a Ninja and be able to defend yourself." Kushina's eyes sparkled at the thought of becoming a Ninja.

After allowing the young Shinobi–to–be to chatter about the future Mito's expression and tone became serious. "Now my dear, I want you to prepare yourself over the coming days. The transfer will take place in one week. I know this may seem sudden but we do not have a lot of time. I am approaching the end of my life after all." Kawarama and Kushina – while a little shocked - nodded in acceptance. Mito's expression returned to the usual warm smile as she said "well that is all. Enjoy the rest of your day and your first day at the Academy tomorrow." Kushina and Kawarama smiled back before leaving.

* * *

The next day Kawarama entered the Academy with Kushina in-tow. She wore a yellow, sleeveless kimono-style blouse, with a green obi keeping it closed. Under this she wore a short-sleeved mesh shirt as well as dark blue shorts and brown shinobi sandals. When they reached the class Shiro was waiting outside. As when they approached he spoke: "Hello Kushina, my name is Shiro Aburame, I will be your teacher while you are at the Academy.""It's nice to meet you," was her reply.

Shiro then turned to Kawarama. "You head inside, we will be with you shortly," he said. "Sure thing Shiro-sensei," Kawarama replied before hurrying into class and taking his usual seat next to Minato.

Within minutes both Shiro and Kushina entered. All eyes were immediately on the new arrival. Shiro spoke: "Good morning everyone. Today we are welcoming a new transfer student from the Hidden Whirlpool Village.""I'm Kushina Uzumaki y'know!" Kushina blurted out before quickly covering her mouth with her hands. Then the whole class began muttering to each other while some said things out loud like "ha, look at her hair", "yeah it's so red", "who would want hair like that hahaha". This caused Kawarama to glare at those too loud for their own good. Kushina then steeled herself before saying "I'm...I'M GOING TO BECOME THE FIRST FEMALE HOKAGE OF THE HIDDEN LEAF VILLAGE!". Upon hearing that declaration Kawarama stopped glaring and quickly nudged Minato, who quickly stood up but did not seem to notice the nudge. "Me too. I want to become a Hokage the whole village respects."

During the break between lessons a group of kids approached Kushina at the back of the class. Kawarama kept watch out of the corner of his eye in case anything got out of hand. "TOMATO!" one of the boys shouted. "From now on your knew name is Tomato. With that red hair and round face, you look just like one haha" said another. "Everyone hates tomatoes, so a big red tomato like you is never going to become Hokage," another boy stated as he grabbed a handful of Kushina's hair. But just as he did Kushina's hand shot up and grabbed the boy's arm. She was not going to take this. "Hey, who're you calling a Tomato? Now you listen here I hate tomatoes just as much as you, y'know." She then proceeded to spin the boy around, knocking over all the other boys surrounding her. She then went up and sat on top of the boy as he lay dazed on the floor. "You keep calling me Tomato and you'll keep getting more of this." She punctuated each word with a punch to the boy's head. As the scene unfolded it solicited a laugh from a few who were watching including Minato and Kawarama. When Kushina noticed Minato laughing she immediately turned on him. "And what are you laughing at?!"she said as she scowled at him. Minato quickly stopped laughing and faced the front, but then slowly glanced back at her. This caused Kawarama to fall of his seat, he was laughing so hard.

Life in the Academy would never be the same again.

* * *

 **A/N: That's it for another chapter folks. stay tuned for the next chapter.**


	4. The Transfer

**A/N: Hello once again. Here is the next chapter in The Tale of Kawarama Senju. (There is a special guest star in Today's chapter)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the Characters**

* * *

It has been six days since Kushina Uzumaki arrived at the Hidden Leaf Village. The day she was to receive the Nine-Tails was around the corner and as expected she was feeling a little nervous. _'I still don't understand why I have to do it'_ she thought. _'But if I don't do it, they may not be able to find another vessel in time'._ So she decided that, despite her nervousness, she would tackle this with the most strength she could muster.

Meanwhile Kawarama was himself nervous, partly for Kushina and partly because of what he had to do once the sealing was complete. Hopefully he would be able to do it when the moment finally arose.

 **FLASHBACK: SIX DAYS AGO**

Kushina and Kawarama where leaving the room before Mito suddenly spoke. "Kawarama could remain here for a moment, there is something I wish to speak to you about." Kawarama did as he was told while Kushina continued on back to the Senju house. "What is it you wanted to talk about?" Kawarama asked, a little confused. "Well, you see" Mito answered. "It will be difficult for Kushina when the sealing is complete. Not only will she never be the same again but there is a possibility that she will end up meeting the Nine-Tails. If that happens, you must be there to assist her if she needs it." To say Kawarama was a little shocked would be an understatement. Meet the Nine-Tails. Possibly even confront it. That isn't exactly easy, even for Kushina, but him? How on earth was he suppose to talk to the damned thing. As if reading his mind, Mito continued. "Ask your mother about the tetragram seal. She will understand and hopefully explain what it is you'll be doing as she teaches you". Kawarama merely stared at her, his expression being one of pure confusion. Picking up on this Mito merely said "just go and ask your mother to help you with that" she said. Kawarama, though still a little confused, nodded before heading out the door.

The first thing that came to his mind was _'A tetragram seal? I've never heard of that before? Is that the seal they're going to use to seal the Nine-Tails or something?'_ Either way, if it helped Kushina with her burden he would do anything.

When he reached his home he found his mother tending to a flowerbed at the back of the house. He approached her and said "hey, um...Mum. Aunt Mito wanted me to ask you something." Kaiyumi finished clipping a hydrangea bush before turning to face him. "Oh, Kawarama. Sure what did she want?" she asked. "She...told me to ask you...about the 'tetragram seal'?" he said, more of a question than anything else. Upon hearing this the smile Kaiyumi had been wearing disappeared. _'The Eight-Point Tetragram Seal? So Mito wants him to go into the seal huh?'_ she thought. She knew Mito wanted Kawarama to help Kushina, but didn't realise she wanted him to go that far. "well first I'll explain what it is I will be teaching you" she said. "Aunt Mito said you would" Kawarama replied, "ho, I bet she did" Kaiyumi scoffed. "Anyway," she continued "When the Nine-Tails is sealed inside of Kushina it will exist within her mind-scape, she will be able to go in and out of her mind scape at will but the sealing may force her in. If that happens then you will need to enter her mind-scape with her. So that you can help her in case she needs it." At this Kawarama's eyes widened "In order for you to do that I'm going to teach you a special Jutsu. Do you understand?" Kaiyumi continued. All Kawarama could do was nod. "Good, we will begin tomorrow".

 **FLASHBACK END**

Kawarama had spent every night after the Academy in his room with his mother learning and practising the Jutsu. It was a Jutsu that allowed him to transfer his consciousness into the Eight-Point Tetragram Seal that was going to be used to seal the Nine-Tails. It was similar to the Yamanaka clan's Mind Transfer Jutsu. At this point he felt he had it down, but there was always room for error. All he could do was hope nothing went wrong.

* * *

On the day of the sealing Kaiyumi and Itama took Kushina and Kawarama to a secluded location just outside the village walls, which-from what Kawarama could tell-was under a heavy Genjutsu. When they reached a large cave entrance they found Mito as well as Hiruzen and a number of Anbu Black Ops.

As they approached Mito smiled and walked up to them. "Ah we are all here now" she said before turning to Kushina. "Are you ready my dear?" Kushina gave a hesitant nod. "Good. Itama take her inside, I will be in shortly." Itama nodded before leading Kushina inside the cave. Mito then turned to Kawarama, a sad smile on her face. "Well. This is goodbye then I suppose" she said.

Kawarama gave her a concerned look. "What?...why?" he asked. Mito sighed, she knew she would have to tell him eventually, now was as good a time as any she supposed, if a little sudden. "Well you see Kawarama, what I didn't tell you about the Nine-Tails was the process of extracting it." Kawarama's eyes widened as a vague idea of where this was going formed in his head. "When a tailed-beast is extracted from it's vessel the process causes the vessel to die for...complicated... reasons. So when the Nine-Tails is extracted from me. I will die."

By now Kawarama was pouring his eyes out. He was only seven and yet he was already losing someone precious to him. He immediately hugged Mito as tight as he could not wanting to let go. Mito simply chuckled. "Come now, don't cry. Think of it this way. I will be going to Join Hashirama and your Grandfather." She said, Kawarama then lifted his head to look at her. "And besides," she continued, "judging by my age I wouldn't have much time on this earth anyway. I will be sure to tell old Tobi just how you've been doing. I'm sure he'd be proud of you." She gave Kawarama a reassuring smile before removing his hands from around her waste. She then said goodbye to Kaiyumi before entering the cave, followed swiftly by Hiruzen and two of the Anbu.

Kaiyumi knelt down and held Kawarama close to her as he stared at the cave entrance. "come on. Be strong. For Mito, and for Kushina" she said. Kawarama wiped the tears from his face. "And remember. When you go in, you are only there to support Kushina, not fight for her. Kushina is the one who needs to do this not you." Kawarama faced her and nodded.

* * *

At one point while waiting for the procedure to finish they felt a large surge of chakra. It was so powerful and menacing that it made it a little difficult to breath, but it quickly subsided. Not long after that, an Anbu came out of the cave and brought them in. The cave wasn't very big and seemed to have been formed with an Earth style Jutsu of sorts. On the far wall there was a door like shape cut into the rock where Kawarama caught a glimpse of an Anbu walk through it carrying a body. He suspected it to be Mito's. His eyes began to water but he quickly wiped then dry. He had to be strong. For Kushina...and for Mito. He steeled himself before walking to the centre of the room. At the centre there were two cuboid tables of rock one of which had an unconscious Kushina laying on top of it. Itama was standing next to her, holding her limp hand.

When he noticed Kawarama he beckoned him over. "Do you remember the Jutsu?" he asked. His tone serious. Kawarama nodded. Itama then stepped away from the table and let Kawarama stand next to Kushina. Her expression was one of stress and a small degree of pain. He hated to see her in pain so he quickly went through the hand seals. Just like Kaiyumi taught him. He then said:

 **Tetragram Seal: Mind Transfer**

The next thing he knew he was in a large, plain, hall-like room with a large gate at one end. The gate had multiple bars going vertically and horizontally across it. The bars were far enough apart for a man to walk straight through. There was also a large canvas in the centre with the kanji for 'seal' written on it. Kawarama thought he could faintly here deep breathing. What ever it was, it sounded asleep! He was just about to head for the gate when he heard: "Kawarama?". He spun round to see a confused looking Kushina. "W...what are you doing here? Where even is here?" she asked looking around the room. Kawarama felt more than a little relieved that she hadn't started talking to the Nine-Tails before he arrived. "Well I'd take a guess and say that this is your mind-scape, it's a lot simpler than I imagined." Kushina pouted at him which caused him to chuckle. Then his expression turned serious as he looked in the direction of the gate "which means..." he began as he took a few steps towards the gate, Kushina hurrying to his side. "...HEY FOX. YOU IN THERE!?" he shouted. There was a long pause. Kawarama was about to ask again when suddenly there came a deep, sinister voice.

" **LEAVE"**

Kawarama and Kushina suddenly froze, as the owner of the voice seemed to seep out of the darkness. It had red-orange fur, with long hare-like ears and black patches on the inner side of his ear that ran down and over his-currently closed-eyes. It was currently lying down with nine large tails splayed out behind it. It's head resting on it's human like forearms. If they hadn't just heard it speak, Kawarama and Kushina would have thought it was sleeping (or trying to at least).

A thought then popped into Kawarama's head _'now might actually be a good time to tell Kushina why I'm here'._ He then grabbed Kushina's shoulder and turned her to face him. "Alright Kushina, listen up. I'm going to explain what I think is going on, and why I'm here." Kushina listened intently but was a little shocked by what was happening. "In the event that the transfer pulled you into your mind-scape, as it has, Aunt Mito asked me to come in and help you...talk, to the Nine-Tails" at the mention of 'Nine-Tails' they heard a long, deep growl from the other side of the cage. When it stopped Kawarama continued "right now you need to assert yourself. It is technically your prisoner after all", he then gave her a reassuring smile before they both turned back to the cage.

This time it was Kushina's turn to shout "HEY...NINE-TAILS WAKE UP YOU LAZY FURBALL!" This time the pause was slightly shorter before the giant fox slowly opened it's eyes, revealing two slitted pupils each surrounded by blood red Irises. **"I SAID...LEAVE"** it said. Kushina flinched, the beast seemed to stare into her very soul, but quickly regained her composure "good your awake" she said. "Alright listen up you fuzz ball! My name is Kushina Uzumaki, y'know. You're my prisoner now, got that. So you better do as I say" she said.

The beast said nothing. It then slowly rose, towering above them at roughly the same height as the Hokage Monument. Kushina and Kawarama's jaws hit the floor. They had never comprehended just how big the tailed beast actually was. The beast the looked down at them and scowled **"YOU INSOLENT BRAT. HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO ME IN SUCH A WAY"**. It took a while for the pair to get out of their stupor. When they did, Kushina decided to show her authority. "I can speak to you how ever I want, fuzzzz ball, and there's nothing you can do about it." The Nine-Tails immediately smashed one of his hand-like paws on the gate, however the bars didn't budge even and inch. **"HOW DARE YOU! I AM THE NINE-TAILED FOX! I AM THE EMBODYMENT OF HATE! INSIGNIFICANT LITTLE BRATS LIKE YOU ARE NOTHING TO ME!"** The beast bellowed. Kushina stood her ground.

The Nine-Tails' scowl deepened. **"YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A WEAK LITTLE GIRL FROM A WEAK LITTLE VILLAGE. WHEN PEOPLE FIND OUT ABOUT ME YOU WILL BE HATED. YOU WILL BE CAST ASIDE AND NO-ONE WILL CARE FOR YOU IN THE SLIGHTEST."** When Kushina heard this her resilience wavered and she began to sink into herself. The Nine-Tails' scowl turned into a smirk.

"SHUT UP YOU STUPID FOX." Both Kushina and the Nine-Tails were shocked at Kawarama's outburst. "First off: You don't know anything about Kushina. She's not weak, she's one of the strongest people I've ever met. Second: What makes you think anyone will find out about you, the only people who know about you being in Kushina right now are me, my Mum and Dad, The Hokage, those guys in the masks and a few of the elders. Finally: She is not, and will not be, hated! I'll make sure of it" he said as he glared into the Nine-Tails' eyes.

The massive creature blinked before smashing repeatedly at the gate **"YOU BRAT!"**. It boomed **"HOW DARE YOU-"**. "Enough!" Kushina shouted as she stamped her foot on the ground. As she did large, pale, glowing chains shot out from seemingly nowhere and rapped around the Nine-Tails and pulled it to the ground, pinning it in place. This time it was Kawarama's turn to be shocked not to mention the Nine-Tails, who's had grown much wider as it stared at the chains. **"THESE ARE CHAKRA CHAINS... HOW?"**. It said confused out of it's demonic mind. Kawarama chuckled. "Hehe, well Aunt Mito did say you had powerful chakra." Kushina, who was now panting, turned her head and gave him a victorious smile before she turned back to the Nine-Tails and gave it a hard stare. "Now, you're going to stay like that and think about what you've done" she said mockingly.

The Nine-Tails snarled at her, but she ignored it and turned to Kawarama. "Thanks Kawarama, if you hadn't been here I don't think this would have gone so well," she said. "You're welcome. How about we head out now?" he questioned. After receiving a nod from Kushina he put his hands in the ram seal and said "release!".

The next thing he knew he was waking up in his father's arms. _'I must have collapsed'_ Kawarama thought. Kawarama then looked up to see Kaiyumi helping Kushina sit up. "Well...how did it go?" Itama asked, a little anxious. Kawarama replied "heh you're not going to believe what happened".

* * *

 **A/N: That's it for this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. Stay tuned for the next chapter in this epic tale**


	5. Graduation

**Hello once again. Here is the next chapter in Kawarama's adventure.**

 **Oh to xXYamchaXx I say: Patience is a virtue my friend.**

* * *

"Mum I'm home!" Kawarama called out as he entered the house. "Welcome back. Dinner should be ready soon!," he heard Kaiyumi call back. Kawarama went to the kitchen to find his mother once again cooking. She turned and smiled at him before her expression turned quizzical. "Where's Kushina?" she asked. "She said she wanted to go for a walk before she came home," he replied. Kaiyumi frowned at him, expecting a little more. "But she did say she'd be back in time for dinner," he said, seeing his mother's expression. Kaiyumi's frown turned back into a smile. "Well as long as she's back in time".

Sure enough, when Kaiyumi was almost finished with the cooking they heard the front door open and slam shut. Then there was the sound of stomping feet. Then Kushina appeared looking a little worse for wear and more than a little annoyed. "What happened to you?" asked Kawarama. Kushina sat down without saying a word.

Kawarama then looked to Kaiyumi and shrugged. Kaiyumi let out a sigh before she spoke. "Kushina...if you don't say what's wrong you wont be getting any food." Kushina's annoyed look seemed to grow even more severe before saying, "It's Minato". Kawarama glanced back at Kaiyumi who had an inquisitive look in her eye. He then turned back. "What about Minato?". "He's a jerk," Kushina said with a hint of spite. Kawarama waited for Kaiyumi to dish out their food before saying "Do you think you'd be able to elaborate on that?". Kushina remained silent as she ate, then spoke. "Fine."

* * *

 **30 Minutes Ago**

"We should probably head home. My Mum will be mad if we're late for dinner," Kawarama said as he and Kushina walked home from the Academy. "You go on ahead. I just want to just go for a walk," Kushina replied. Kawarama simply frowned at her, causing her to giggle. He always looked funny when he put on faces. "Don't worry, I'll be back before dinner is ready," she assured him. Kawarama sighed. "Fine, but you'd better be back in time or else we'll both be in trouble," he said. He then carried on home while Kushina turned off the track and headed for the Sakura fields.

The Sakura fields was a small area just outside the Leaf Village filled to the brim with Sakura trees, hence the name. Kushina sometimes liked to come here after her day at the Academy to clear her head. Despite the support from Kawarama and his family, which by now she was practically a part of, the prospect of the Nine-Tails being inside of her was a little overwhelming at times. While she walked along in her own thoughts she almost didn't notice the figure who stepped out from behind one of the trees.

It was the boy from the first day of the Academy. The one she used to knock over all his friends, then proceeded to beat up. She had then beaten him up every time he picked on her. She was surprised the kid hadn't learned. She was also surprised that this time he had back-up.

From behind the tree emerged an older boy with a smirk on his face. Kushina was a bit worried about where this was going, but decided to stand her ground. "Are you the girl who's been making my little brother cry?" he asked. "I-it's only cause he keeps picking on me. And cause he's such a wuss." At this the younger boy shouted out "I-I am not!". His brother merely chuckled "I made Genin. Pretty cool right?" He said while gesturing to his headband emblazoned with the emblem of the Hidden Leaf village. Kushina stared at it in awe while the boy continued. "It's the job of Genin like me to teach you rookies a little lesson in manners." However she wasn't paying attention to him. She was still staring at the headband, the one thing that might get her that little bit of respect she had been craving. She was then quickly brought back to reality as she just managed to avoid a fist that came flying at her. Realising that she probably wouldn't be able to beat a Genin she decided to make a run for it. Kushina then leapt away from the boy and into the trees, where the Genin quickly followed.

After a few minutes attempting to get away from the Genin, Kushina saw a metal object wizz past her face and stick into a tree just in front of her. Realising what it was Kushina's eyes widened _'A real kunai!?'_ She was shocked the boy would use a real weapon against even her. She then decided that enough, was enough. She jumped from the branch she was on and landed on the trunk of the tree, just above where the kunai was embedded. She used it to push off the tree and collided with the boy, knocking him to the ground. Kushina landed gracefully a few feet away.

However, when Kushina turned back she saw him disappear into a cloud of smoke and be replaced with a log. The next the she knew she felt a sharp pain in her neck that caused her to keel over. She then felt a foot connect with her back and send her to the ground. "Wow, you can't even recognise a Substitution Jutsu? You really suck at being a Ninja," said the Genin with an arrogant smirk on his face. He grabbed a hand full of Kushina's hair and used it to lift her up and on to her knees. The pain she felt was excruciating. It was then that the Genin's younger brother showed up.

"Boy, that is some red hair, and it's as stiff as straw. Man, look at this, I don't think I've seen anything so ugly," the genin continued. The younger boy then laughed at his brother's remark. "Hahaha serves you right." But then he noticed something. Tears were streaming down Kushina's face. "I hate my red hair too," she said. "Are you happy now? Leave me alone. LET GO!" She tried to run away, but the older boy kept a firm grip on her hair.

Slowly a few of her hairs began to break due to her trying to escape the Genin's grip. When Kushina finally broke free she immediately jumped up and kidded the Genin square in the nose, knocking him to the floor. She then leapt on top of him and proceeded to punch him in the face. "You know this hairs a part of me! You can't change that! It's just me." While this was going on the younger boy made a run for it crying "It's the Red Hot Habanero!".

When Kushina decided the genin had had enough she got off of him. He then threw her hair in her face. "Outsider!" He shouted, before running off. Once again, no matter what she did, no matter how many people she beat, she still had no respect. She would never be accepted.

She then heard a rustle in the trees. When she looked up she saw Minato standing on a branch. _'Was he just standing there watching?'_ she thought. Rage suddenly built up inside Kushina. "You didn't want to help me...because I'm an outsider huh!?". Minato slightly flinched at her tone. "No that's not it." But Kushina wasn't listening "I bet you agree with them attacking me too!" She then ran as fast as she could in the direction of the Senju compound. However she did not notice the sombre look on Minato's face.

As she ran Kushina heard a voice in her head say **"Hehehe, even without the knowledge of me, you are still despised in this village"**. Hearing this voice caused Kushina to stop running _'Nine-Tails?'_ she thought. **"That's right, I am able to talk to you outside of your mindscape using tailed beast telepathy...you could just kill them you know."** Those words made Kushina's eyes widen. _'What?'_ she thought. The Nine-Tails smirked. **"Just kill them, and all your troubles would be over. No-one would be around to hate you anymore."** No she couldn't listen to it, if she did then people would suffer, that's not what she wanted, she wanted to be respected not feared _'shut up you stupid fuzz ball!'_ she shouted in her mind. The Nine-Tails' smirk remained **"one of these days your hate will overcome you. Then I will destroy everything you hold dear"**. By this point Kushina didn't want to hear any more. Almost as if heeding her command the Nine-Tails fell silent. She then continued to the Senju compound.

* * *

"And that's what happened," Kushina said to Kawarama and Kaiyumi. The pair stared at her in stunned silence. Kawarama was clenching his fists so hard his knuckles were white. _'How dare that guy do such a thing. I swear if I ever find him I'm going to personally kick his ass,'_ Kaiyumi's mind was going over a different scenario. _'What is that fox playing at. What is it's goal?'_ Kushina spoke: "Like I said, Minato's a jerk." This snapped Kawarama out of his thoughts. "Wait, why is Minato the jerk? Surely it's that Genin you should be angry at, not Minato. He didn't do anything." Kushina stared back at him. "Exactly. He didn't do anything. He just watched me get attacked."

This time Kaiyumi decided to add her two cents. "For as long as I've known the boy, Minato hasn't been one to just let people be hurt. He must have had his reasons for not helping you," she said. "And besides you'll be graduating from the Academy in a couple of days. That should prove that you are worthy of respect". At this both Kushina and Kawarama beamed at her with massive smiles on their faces. "Yeah and I'll be one step closer to being a hero," he said confidently. _'I thought that would lighten the mood,'_ Kaiyumi thought as she smiled back at the two soon-to-be Genin.

* * *

On the day of graduation Kushina and Kawarama went to class as always and sat in their respective seats. As always Shiro came in just on time for the start of the day's lesson. "Alright class settle down. I am sure you are all very excited for today. Why? Because today, is your graduation day. If you pass that is" he said. He then produced a large quantity of papers from beneath his desk. "We will begin with the written test" he stated.

Once the written test (which no-one really cares about for the Academy graduation) was over, Shiro collected all the papers in. "Alright. Now please, everyone head outside where we will test your kunai and shuriken skills". As they were told all of them headed out to the throwing range. The throwing range was just a simple wooden fence around the back of the Academy with ten targets on it. Each student was called up one by one to throw a set of kunai and shuriken. There was a variety of scores from below to above average. When it was Minato's turn he threw his kunai at the target getting ten bullseyes. _'Since his first day in the Academy Minato has never missed a single mark with his kunai,'_ thought Shiro as Minato went to through his shuriken. He only got the majority of hits on the target, one was a bullseye and two missed. _'However his shuriken skills need a bit of refining,'_ was Shiro's second thought as Minato went back to the group.

When it was Kawarama's turn he went up, grabbed his kunai and hurled them at the targets. _'On the other hand, Kawarama is roughly average with his kunai,'_ he continued to think as Kawarama scored two bullseyes and missed three, while hitting random points on the other targets. He then grabbed his shuriken. _'But he is unmatched when it comes to shuriken,'_ was Shiro's last thought as Kawarama threw his shuriken, scoring ten bullseyes.

Satisfied with the results of the throwing test Shiro ordered the students to move on to the Taijutsu test. The Taijutsu test took place in a different part of the Academy grounds where there was a reasonably sized circle drawn in the dirt. Shiro stopped just next to the circle. Looking over the group of students he spoke. "Alright you should all know what is going to happen. You will be pitted against a member of your class. The first one to be knocked out of the ring is the loser, you will not only be marked on your performance but also your opponent. Why? Because you are all of varying skills, it would be unfair to score someone poorly if they were up against someone they didn't have a chance of beating." Hizashi glowered at his teacher. "Then why don't you pit us against people of similar skill level?" Hizashi questioned. "We have tried, but there is always room for error and under/overestimation" was Shiro's reply.

After this the students were called up two at a time and fought (or didn't in the case of a certain Nara) until finally it was Kawarama and Minato's turn, who by some ultimate and supreme power were made to be each others opponents. When their names where called they entered the circle and made the seal of confrontation. Shiro spoke: "Alright, begin".

Minato and Kawarama dashed towards each other. Minato leapt at Kawarama and attempted to punch him, while at the same time Kawarama did a slide tackle attempting to take out Minato's legs. This resulted in their first hits completely missing each other. When Kawarama stopped he spun round and threw a punch, which Minato deflected with his forearm, before sending a roundhouse kick towards Kawarama's head. To dodge Kawarama ducked and then swept his leg on the floor to knock Minato off of his supporting leg.

When Minato hit the floor Kawarama immediately brought his left back to kick Minato out of the ring, however Minato quickly got into a position where he was able to knock Kawarama off of his right leg. Once Kawarama was suspended Minato sent another kick into Kawarama's side sending him flying out of the ring. Minato then ran to his friend and offered a hand with a smile. Kawarama took the hand and smiled back. "I'll get you next time," Kawarama said. "I look forward to it," Minato replied. They then made the seal of reconciliation before returning to the group.

Shiro finished writing on his clipboard that none of the students had noticed him carrying until now. "Alright, now that the Taijutsu test has been completed, everyone please make your way back to class and wait to be called. Why? Because we are moving on to the Ninjutsu test". Once again the students did as they were told, and returned to their classroom.

They were called up one-by-one to go to the examination room where they would perform the three Jutsu most necessary for a Ninja. The Substitution, Transformation and Clone Jutsus. Kawarama had never had any problems with performing these Jutsu, and so was very confident. When Kawarama was finally called he exited his classroom and walked a few paces down the hall to the Examination room.

The Examination room was just like every other classroom in the Academy, except for the absence of desks. There was also a small log in the corner of the room. Shiro was sitting at the desk with a number of Hidden Leaf headbands in front of him, with a few of them missing. "Alright. Now Kawarama, please perform the Substitution, Transformation and Clone Jutsu in which ever order you see fit," he said. Kawarama then put his hands in the ram seal before saying " **Substitution Jutsu!** " and was then replaced by a puff of smoke, which then cleared to reveal the log that had been in the corner of the room. Shiro scribbled on his clipboard. Then the door to the room slid open to reveal...the Hokage.

"Good day Shiro" he said, "I trust the Genin test is going well". Shiro merely scribbled down on his clipboard again and said "alright, very good Kawarama now perform the Clone Jutsu". The Hokage blinked. "Is...Kawarama the one taking the test now? Where is he?" Shiro looked up from his clipboard. The Hokage could just feel the tired glare that Shiro was sending him. The Hokage then smiled sheepishly while scratching the back of his head. "Oh come on Shiro-sensei, admit that I at least had you for a second." There was a puff of smoke which quickly dissipated to reveal Kawarama. "No. Now please perform the Clone Jutsu and make at least one clone," Shiro said in a monotone voice.

Kawarama sweatdropped. He then moved to the centre of the room where he performed the hand signs and said " **Clone Jutsu!** ". He was then surrounded by puffs of smoke. When the smoke cleared it revealed six Kawarama's standing in a line, smirking at Shiro, whose eyebrows had risen and were now visible above his shades. He then looked down at his clipboard. "Alright. Very good. Well, Kawarama...it is my privilege to tell you that you have past the Genin test. Come and take a headband. You may then go home. Be sure to be here early tomorrow because you will be assigned a team and a Jounin-sensei," he said. But when he looked up from his clipboard Kawarama was gone. As was one of the headbands.

* * *

 **That's it for this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it. Until next time**


	6. The Team and The Sensei

**Hello once again everyone. Welcome back. Here is the next chapter.**

 **In this chapter the teams will be selected and senseis assigned.**

 **However, there are a few things I feel I should mention. One, is that I was aware when I wrote the first chapter that I had a lot of characters with doujutsus. I have tried to spread them out as best I could. You may not like the teams and that is fair enough. But I ask you to keep reading the story. If your view doesn't change then there is nothing I can do.**

 **The second thing relates to the teams. You may have noticed that there are only enough characters to make four full teams. To fix this problem, I had to add in another character.**

 **Now that's out of the way, on with the show.**

* * *

The day after his graduation, Kawarama was making his way down the hall of the Academy. Today was the day he'd be assigned a team and a Jounin-sensei. He was so excited, that as an added gesture to show that he was ready to become a Ninja, along with his headband, he now wore two piece metal arm guards that covered from just above his elbow to his knuckles. They were similar in appearance to those worn by the Anbu Black Ops.

When he reached his class he sat in his old seat for the last time. He knew he would not be coming back here. Shiro walked in directly on time as always and was carrying a clip board. He cleared his throat to get the class's attention.

"Alright," he began. "Now, we have put you all into teams, which I will now read out." The entire class was silent, and (most) were listening with baited breath. "Team two will be: Choza Akimichi, Shikaku Nara and Inoichi Yamanaka" all three nodded. "Team three will include: Mikoto Uchiha, Shibi Aburame and Hitomi Hyuga." They all nodded in response. "Team four will consist of: Fugaku Uchiha, Tsume Inuzuka and Hizumi Hyuga." These three didn't appear very happy. Tsume's head landed on the desk in front of her, Fugaku sneered and Hizumi's eyes fell to the floor. "Team five is: Kushina Uzumaki, Hizashi Hyuga and Mizuki Toriyama." This team did not give much of a response. "Team six will have: Kawarama Senju, Minato Namikaze and Hiashi Hyuga." Minato and Kawarama high-fived. But then they realised who else was on their team. "I think I may have jinxed it back in the Academy," Kawarama muttered. "Yeah, I think you did," was Minato's reply. Shiro then read out the rest of the teams before saying, "alright, now you will wait for your jounin-senseis." He then went to exit the class before the door slid open and in stepped a man.

He looked like a younger version of the Hokage except without the goatee. He was wearing a jounin outfit and was smoking a cigarette. "Team two?" he asked. Choza, Shikaku and Inoichi all stood up. "My name is Kemuri Sarutobi. I'm your sensei so follow me." He then headed out of the class and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio soon followed. "Before you go there is something I would like to say," said Shiro. The three stopped just short of the door. Shiro then addressed the class. "I just wanted to say congratulations for passing the exam, and good luck for the future, whether you think you need it or not." With that Shiro exited the classroom, as did Team two.

The next time the door opened, a man stepped in who had a rather kind face with dark eyes, which had deep lines running underneath them. He had short, spiky, silver-coloured hair. He wore the standard jounin uniform. However he also had bandages on his right arm as well as a distinctive short white sleeve with red edges and the standard crest of the Hidden Whirlpool on his left. He also wore a holster diagonally across his right shoulder which held some sort of dagger or short sword. "Hello, my name is Sakumo Hatake. I'm here for Team three," he said. Team three walked to the front of the class and followed Sakumo out.

A few minutes later, the door once again slid open, but this time two people walked in. The entire class was shocked when they realised who these two were. One was a woman, probably in her late thirties, who had light skin with brown eyes and more or less straight blonde hair, which she wore in a high ponytail. She wore a short-sleeved mesh shirt under a white, short-sleeved T-shirt. She also wore a short red skirt and short mesh leggings that went to just above her knee. The other was a tall man, he had extremely translucent-looking, pale skin and long straight black hair. He had a long face and golden eyes with slits in his pupils and purple pigments around his eyes. He wore the standard jounin uniform and blue tomoe-like earrings.

Kawarama leapt to the front and hugged the woman shouting: "TSUNADE!...I can't believe it. It's been years since I've seen you, I've missed you, it's so good to see you. Where were you? Never mind that how are you?" he blurted. Tsunade chuckled at her cousin's antics. "Hello Kawarama, it's good to see you too, and I'm fine. I'm sorry I haven't been back in a while but...I've needed some time to think. Then I was sent on a mission with my teammates," she said as her face became a little solemn.

Kawarama then released her and waved to the man. "Hey Orochimaru, how ya doin'?" Orochimaru gave a small smile before replying. "Oh I'm quite well Kawarama. As expected you passed the Genin exam." Kawarama gave him a large grin before turning back to Tsunade, his eyes gleaming. "So are you guys taking on a team of Genin?" he asked hopefully. Tsunade kept smiling while she replied. "Yes, in fact we are." She then spoke to the whole class. "I'm here for Team five" Kawarama deflated a little at this. He had hoped Tsunade would be his Jounin-sensei. Team five went to the front and followed Tsunade, who waved goodbye to Kawarama. Kushina also waved. Kawarama waved to them both. "I am here for Team four," Orochimaru said. Team four then walked to the front and followed him out of the classroom.

As they walked Hizumi glanced at Kawarama. He noticed and gave her a reassuring smile. "Trust me, he's not as bad as he looks." Hizumi perked up and smiled back. She then turned back and ran after her team.

It was a long wait before the door slid open for the last time. A man stepped in. He had spiky, white hair in a short ponytail with shoulder length bangs that framed both sides of his face. He also had red lines that ran down his cheeks from his eyes. He wore a simple black tunic with a grey collar and a black belt along with black, baggy trousers. "So...you guys must be Team six," he said. The three remaining genin nodded. "Well, say hello to your new sensei, my name is Jiraiya." He said this with a large grin and a little too much self-admiration. _'Man, I can tell that we are going to have an...interesting experience, even if he is one of the legendary Sannin like Tsunade and Orochimaru'_ thought Kawarama. "Well follow me. I suppose we should get down to buisness and familiarise ourselves with each other," Jiraiya continued. "We did that on the first day of the Academy," retorted Hiashi. Jiraiya's eyebrow twitched. "Well then consider it me getting to know you then _'smart ass_ '," he replied.

Jiraiya took the newly formed Team six to a dango restaurant. "Alright guys...truth be told I already know everything about you. I was given all the information on you from when you were at the Academy, so I'm fairly well informed on your skills." Hiashi raised an eyebrow. "Then why did you say you wanted to get to know us?" He asked. "Because...well...because!" Jiraiya growled back. He then sighed before continuing. "That then brings me to why I need to talk to you guys today." The trio looked at him with confused looks. What could Jiraiya possibly need to tell them?

Jiraiya let out another sigh. "You guys aren't actually Genin." He said. All three of the young Ninja's jaws dropped. "What do you mean we're not Genin!? We passed the Genin test didn't we!?" yelled Kawarama. "I know you did," replied Jiraiya, flatly. "But in actual fact, that wasn't the real Genin test. It was just to weed out the hopeless ones from the ones who might stand a chance." There was a moment of silence before Jiraiya sighed for the third time. He then stood up, saying: "Alright, come on, let's head to training ground three and do the test." He only took a few steps before Minato spoke up. "Um Jiraiya-sensei. We just got out of the Academy, so we don't have any equipment." Jiraiya immediately froze. "OK fine we'll go get you guys some equipment and then we'll go to training ground three." He grumbled as he stood back up. He then marched off to the nearest Shinobi shop, Team six in-tow.

When they reached a shop Jiraiya told them to grab a shuriken holster as well as an equipment pouch. They had to fill the pouch with kunai and paper bombs, but only, Jiraiya said, if they thought they could use them safely and effectively. "Um Jiraiya-sensei, could I have two shuriken holsters instead of just one? It's just that I'm really good with them." asked Kawarama. "Sure, why not," was Jiraiya's half-hearted reply. As Kawarama was looking for his equipment he noticed something on a shelf just within his reach. It was a straight blade, just under sixty centimetres long. It had a jet-black scabbard and handle. It had no guard and a ring on the pommel, similar to a kunai. Kawarama took it off the shelf and ran to Jiraiya. "Hey, what about this?" he asked hopefully. Jiraiya inspected the weapon then raised an eyebrow. "A ninjato? Sorry kid, only the essentials" he said. This resulted in a pout from Kawarama "...but I suppose...if you manage to pass my test, I could make an exception", Jiraiya continued while bringing his hand up in a thinking position. Kawarama suddenly brightened up when Jiraiya said this.

When all three sets of equipment had been purchased the group moved on to training ground three.

Training ground three was fairly simple. It was a forest with a river running through it, surrounded by a fence. But it did have a few clearings, one of which had three wooden posts near the edge and was next to the river. This is where team six would have it's true test. "Listen up you three," Jiraiya said, gaining the full attention of his possible soon to be Genin students. "You guys have three hours. Three hours to get these two bells from me," he continued as he held up two bells for them to see. "If you get a bell then you pass. But if you don't get a bell then you're headed back to the Academy." At this once again all three jaws dropped. "But doesn't that mean...?" Kawarama began. "...that one of us is undoubtedly going back to the Academy," Hiashi finished.

Jiraiya smirked. "Heh, just make sure you get a bell and you'll be fine." He then attached the bells to his belt, before leaping back and shouting "begin!".

* * *

 **That's it for this chapter. I hope you enjoyed and are...accepting of the teams.**

 **Next chapter we will see how Team six fairs against one of the legendary Sannin.**


	7. The True Genin Test

**Hello there and welcome back. This will be my first attempt at some real action, so it all goes well.**

 **On another note. I suppose I should have said beforehand but I want to know what you guys think. Bits you like/don't like, anything you want to see in the future, don't hesitate to tell me.**

 **And with that let the show begin.**

* * *

Jiraiya leapt back and shouted "Begin!".

Kawarama and Minato immediately circled round and ran towards Jiraiya on either side. Minato leapt into the air and attempted to punch Jiraiya in the head, while Kawarama attempted to slide under him and take his legs out. It was a circumstance much like their Academy match, only this time Jiraiya was in between them. Jiraiya, being the skilled Ninja he was, easily caught Minato's hand while hopping over Kawarama. He then flung Minato into Kawarama as he recovered from his failed attack. The two young Ninja were sent flying and ended up in a sprawling heap on the ground.

"Heh, child's play"Jiraiya muttered. He then leapt to the side, just narrowly dodging a Gentle Fist strike. _'That's right, I also have a Hyuga to deal with,'_ he thought, as Hiashi sped towards him, palms raised, veins around his eyes enlarged, indicating to his activated Byakugan. "I can assure you that fighting me is no mere child's play" Hiashi declared, "That remains to be seen" Jiraiya retorted with a smirk. For a while the little duel between Jiraiya and Hiashi was very much the same, with Hiashi attempting to hit Jiraiya with his Gentle Fist and Jiraiya deflecting most of the hits by hitting Hiashi's forearms. _'As long as I don't touch his hands I'll be fine'_ was Jiraiya's conclusion.

After a while Jiraiya was getting a bit bored, so when Hiashi next tried to hit him he grabbed Hiashi's wrist and then twisted it, causing Hiashi to fall to his knees. Jiraiya then practically punted him across the clearing. It was then that Jiraiya noticed something. Both Minato and Kawarama were missing and, thanks to the setting sun behind him, he could see two shadows above him. When he looked up he saw none other than Kawarama and Minato flying towards him, each with one foot extended, no doubt trying to kick his face in. Jiraiya just sighed. He then caught both legs and smashed their owners into the ground. It was a mere two seconds before he heard: "You are in range of my attack". When he looked up, he saw Hiashi in an all too familiar stance. "Oh crap," was all he could say before "Eight-Trigrams: Sixteen Palms!" There was no time to dodge or defend himself, so all Jiraiya could do was weather the attack. Hiashi span towards Jiraiya, jabbing his index and middle fingers at his chakra points as he whirled around. "Two Palms, Four Palms, Eight palms, Sixteen Palms!" Hiashi spoke as he carried out a weaker form of the Huyga's most legendary Jutsu. With the final jab, Jiraiya was sent careening across the clearing. "Nice one...Hiashi," Kawarama said while gulping for air. "Thank you," Hiashi replied.

A few metres away Jiraiya was recovering from his ordeal. _'Thank God that wasn't the full Jutsu, If it was there's now way I'd be able to stand right now,'_ he thought as an idea struck him. _'I've never tried it in this kind of situation before, but that doesn't mean it won't work. Plus, I really want to see these kid's reactions'_. Jiraiya then sat cross-legged on the floor and formed a cross seal. The next thing the young Ninja knew they were faced with three extra Jiraiyas. The original Jiraiya then closed his eyes and sat completely still. Then the clones ran towards the young Ninja and split them up so that there was a Jiraiya facing each of them. "How come he knows how to use the Shadow Clone Jutsu?!" Kawarama exclaimed. "Well he is one of the legendary Sannin so I guess anything is possible" Minato shouted as he went into a brawl with his Jiraiya clone.

Each would-be Genin fought with their Jiraiya clones for some time. The advantage of each fight shifted rapidly. All three were more than a little surprised when the clones suddenly puffed into smoke. Jiraiya, however, did not move a muscle and his hair was overshadowing his eyes. Seizing the advantage Minato and Kawarama dashed towards him each swing back an arm, ready to punch Jiraiya's head into the ground. When their fists were about to connect with Jiraiya's face, Jiraiya's hands shot up and caught their hands.

The pair were stopped dead in their tracks. It was then that Jiraiya looked up and the Young Ninja finally saw his eyes. They had changed drastically: a yellow iris, a horizontal rectangular pupil, his eyes were also surrounded by red pigmentation. His nose had also become slightly warty, his teeth sharper and a small beard now protruded from his chin. "What do you know, I was right," he said, a small smirk donning his face as he observed the wide eyed expressions on Minato and Kawarama's faces. Using the opening to his advantage Hiashi darted between his teammates and went to strike Jiraiya. However his attack did not hit. Because Jiraiya smashed Minato and Kawarama into him, then kicked all three of them away.

"That one is going to hurt latter," Kawarama muttered as he sat up from where he had landed. "What was that?" Minato questioned. "If I am not mistaken _that_ is known as Sage Mode. It is an ability only available to those who have a summoning contract. It infuses natural energy with the user's chakra, increasing the power of his Jutsu and overall physical strength," Hiashi explained. "WHAT?! That's insane. Come on sensei, that is totally unfair." Kawarama shouted. "Well, I suppose using Sage Mode on Ninja fresh out of the Academy is a little harsh. Unfortunately it takes a while for Sage Mode to run out, so I'll give you some time to catch your breath" Jiraiya replied.

The three would-be Genin looked at one another before disappearing into the trees

* * *

"Man, that was intense," Kawarama said. Minato, Hiashi and he were sitting on branches quite far from the clearing. "We need to change our strategy. We keep doing the same thing. You two attack then I follow up. It is an easy tactic to counter," Hiashi said. "What do you have in mind?" Minato asked. "I recommend that we all attack at the same time, from different angles, so that Jiraiya-sensei is only able to keep an eye on one of us at a time," Hiashi replied. "Sorry to storm your parade Hiashi, but I have an idea that is way better than that," Kawarama said with a smirk. Hiashi glared at him: "I'll be the judge of that," he said.

"...So that's the plan," Kawarama said with a proud grin on his face. "I admit. That plan is indeed better than mine," Hiashi muttered. "Are you sure you'll be able to pull it off Kawarama?" Minato asked, a hint of concern in his voice. Kawarama gave Minato a confident glance. "Don't worry, I'll be fine." Minato and Hiashi were both surprised when Kawarama quickly pulled out a kunai and thrust it behind him, embedding it into...Jiraiya, whose eyes were wide with shock! They were not surprised, however, when Jiraiya disappeared into smoke. "How did you know he was there?" Hiashi asked, "I didn't hear him at all," Minato added. Kawarama looked at them both. "I don't know. I felt it I guess." Hiashi looked sceptically at his teammate. "You felt it? That seems highly unlikely." Minato butted in: "It doesn't really matter. What matters is whether or not he heard our plan." "I have a feeling that he didn't" said Kawarama, "And if he did?" Asked Hiashi. "Then we'll go with your plan," Kawarama replied.

"How did that kid know my shadow clone was there?" Jiraiya asked himself. He was still standing in the clearing, his arms folded. His Sage Mode had run out a few seconds ago. He was not waiting long before Kawarama leapt into the clearing. Jiraiya gave him a quizzical look. "Come to fight me on your own kid?" He asked. Kawarama just smirked before more figures leapt out of the trees. The next thing Jiraiya knew he was surrounded by about twenty Kawaramas. "Heh, the old 'throw a weapon and make it look like the clone threw it' tactic huh? Please. Like I'd fall for that," he muttered. One of the Kawarama's then said "Actually Jiraiya-sensei, it's not quite like that." Jiraiya immediately leapt at the Kawarama that spoke. "You gave yourself away," He declared. "Oh did I?" The Kawarama replied with a crafty smirk. When Jiraiya reached Kawarama he punched him hard in the gut.

The shock on Jiraiya's face could not be put into words when Kawarama puffed into smoke. "S-shadow clones!? How the Hell do you know the Shadow Clone Jutsu, let alone make so many?" Another Kawarama spoke: "When we beat you, you might just find out." Suddenly, all of the Shadow Clones Leapt into the air and converged on Jiraiya. Just as the they were about to impact Jiraiya heard something that filled him with dread, "Eight-Trigrams: Sixteen Palms!". "Not again," he muttered before Hiashi commenced his attack. Jiraiya was sent flying.

For a moment there was nothing, he heard no sound other than the jingle of the bells at his belt. He then impacted the ground hard.

When he looked up his eyes went wide. There, standing a few feet away was Hiashi with Minato and Kawarama either side of him, who were each holding up a bell. "We win sensei," Kawarama said victoriously.

Jiraiya chuckled as he stood up. "Nice work. So...does that mean Hiashi is going back to the Academy?" The three Ninja looked at each other and nodded. Then Minato and Kawarama threw their bells back to Jiraiya. "Actually...we all are," they said in unison. Jiraiya quirked an eyebrow. "Never before have we worked together on a team," Hiashi said. "Yet I think we worked pretty damn well together," Kawarama added. "And so we feel that it would be better to go back to the Academy and stay a team rather than split up," Minato finished.

Jiraiya blinked before he burst out laughing. "Hahaha alrighehehe." He almost couldn't speak, he was laughing so hard. "Hey what's so funny?" yelled Kawarama. "Ohoho, sorry, I just didn't expect you guys to pass with flying colours hahaha" Jiraiya replied. Three Ninja froze. Kawarama said "c-come again?" Jiraiya regained his composure. "I said you three pass". The three now Genin stared at Jiraiya, dumbfounded open-mouthed. Jiraiya looked at them. "Alright let me explain. The point of the bell test is to see if a team is really up for being...well, a team. If you were selfish and made sure you teammates couldn't get a bell but you could, or something with a similar outcome, then there would be no point in having you be a team, because you are only thinking about yourself, not your comrades, which I have come to learn are the most important things you will ever have in this Shinobi world of ours'." Jiraiya said.

"Well that certainly makes sense" said Hiashi. Jiraiya then turned to Kawarama. "Hey kid. Mind if I try something?" "Um, sure" Kawarama replied. Kawarama suddenly spun around and stabbed a kunai into yet another Jiraiya clone, who seemed to be trying to sneak up on him. The original Jiraiya chuckled. "Just as I suspected. You have sensory abilities," he said. Kawarama gave him a confused look. "Sensory-what-now?" Minato and Hiashi were now listening intently to what was being said, intrigued to hear about their teammates hidden ability. "Sensory abilities allow you to...well, sense, other chakra signatures. The more you train with those abilities, the more precise your senses will be," Jiraiya explained. A large grin began to spread over Kawarama's face. "I am so awesome," he said proudly. Jiraiya just waved him off. "Yeah, yeah. Just don't get cocky kid," he said. But in truth he was very proud of his student.

"Oh, how about now you tell me how you know the Shadow Clone Jutsu, and how you were able to make so many?" Jiraiya asked. This caused Minato and Kawarama to burst out laughing while Hiashi just chuckled. Jiraiya's brow furrowed. "What's so funny?" he asked. "Ihihihit's just thahahahat they weren't all shahahadow clones hehehe," Kawarama tried to say. Jiraiya's eyes widened. "W-what?" When Kawarama managed to regain his composure he explained. "I only made a few shadow clones and then mixed them in with regular clones. Even Minato used a transformation and mixed in too. Thinking they were all shadow clones meant you kept your attention on us. You didn't notice Hiashi until it was too late. As you flew through the air me and Minato swiped the bells. You didn't honestly think I could make two dozen shadow clones did you? The most I can make is about five or six." Jiraiya's jaw dropped. "As for how I know the Jutsu. My Dad taught me it to help me train, though he always restricted me to two or three shadow clones, due to the exhaustion as well as the experience coming back to me."

Jiraiya was absolutely astounded. He, one of the legendary Sannin, was outwitted by a trio of kids. And on top of that one of them had already been taught, and had sufficient skills in, the Shadow Clone Jutsu.

There was something that Kawarama had been more than a little curious about during the fight. "Hey sensei. There was something I wanted ask you." Jiraiya turned to him "What is it squirt?" he asked. Kawarama stared at him "I was just wondering, Hiashi said that in order to use Sage Mode you needed a summoning contract. What contract do you have?" Kawarama asked. Both Minato and Hiashi again listened intently to the answer, as they to were also quite interested. Jiraiya gave a chuckle, then proceeded to bite his thumb and perform a number of hand seals before slamming the same hand on the ground saying "Summoning Jutsu!". Jiraiya was then surrounded by a large puff of smoke.

When the smoke cleared it revealed Jiraiya sitting atop a large orange toad with blue markings and a necklace of beads, the largest of which bore the kanji for loyalty on it. "Squirts, meet Gama," Jiraiya said proudly. Hiashi sweatdropped. "Toads...Your summoning contract...is with toads". Hiashi then looked over to his teammates to see them staring at the toad with starry eyes. "So cool," they chimed. "Well what did you expect, squirts? After all, I am the Legendary Toad Sage Jiraiya of Mt. Myoboku," Jiraiya exclaimed while both he and Gama struck a pose. Hiashi facepalmed while Minato and Kawarama continued to stare in admiration at their sensei.

"That is so cool. I am totally going to try that," Kawarama stated. "Well kid it's not that easy, First you need to find one of the...what are you doing?" Jiraiya said while Kawarama bit his thumb and then went through the same hand seals he saw Jiraiya do. Jiraiya stared at Kawarama with pure horror "Wait kid, you don't have a summoning contract!" But it was too late. "Summoning Jutsu!" Kawarama shouted before he was surrounded by a puff of smoke. When the smoke dissipated Kawarama was gone. Jiraiya was in dismay. He knew there was nothing that could be done. "This must be how sensei felt."

* * *

 **Well that's it for this chapter folks.**

 **In case you were wondering, yes Kawarama is getting a summons. You get a cake if you can guess the summons.**

 **Stay tuned for the next chapter of: The Tale of Kawarama Senju.**


	8. The Hidden Lake

**Welcome back ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, to The Tale of Kawarama Senju.**

 **First things first: I'm trying out a different way of writing. (If you don't lie then just say so and I'll take it into account)**

 **besides that there is not big news, so without further ado:**

 **On with the show**

* * *

When Kawarama opened his eyes he found himself staring into another pair of eyes. They were as black as a starless night sky. The face that owned them was brown and...fur? Whiskers too? When Kawarama realised just what was happening he almost fainted. He was lying on his back, on what felt like logs, with a small otter on his chest staring at him. He leapt to his feet and got into a defensive stance. The otter just hoped onto the logs and sat there, still staring at him.

"Quit staring at me!" Kawarama yelled.

He then heard a feminine voice behind him say:

"Kawauso, what have I told you about that. You know it creeps people out, right?"

When Kawarama turned round he came face to face with yet another otter. Except this one was standing on its hind legs, and it was roughly his height. It also seemed to be wearing armour constructed from numerous metal plates, forming into multiple protective guards along its body. "Sorry about that. Kawauso can be really annoying sometimes," the otter said, placing a hand on its hip. Kawarama's eyes bugged out of his head.

"Y-you just talked!" he cried. The otter looked at him with a surprised expression on its face.

"I don't see what the big deal is. Most summoning animals are able to talk."

"Really that's so cool, I can't...wait, wait, wait. Back up a bit. Who the hell are you? Where the hell am I?" Kawarama asked.

The otter simply folded its arms. Then it tilted its head, saying:

"It's rude to ask someone's name without give your own first." Kawarama honestly didn't know what was going on. Admittedly he thought it was kind of cool that he was talking to an animal. But at the same time it seemed insane. He gave a sigh.

"Fine. My name is Kawarama Senju, at your service," he said, giving a mock bow. The otter chuckled before saying:

"Well Kawarama it's nice to meet you. My name is Usohime." Kawarama sat down on the logs and crossed his arms.

"Alright, now that we've gotten the introductions out of the way, mind telling me where I am?"

Then came another voice from behind him, this one however sounded much more aged.

"My boy, you are in the valley of Suihimitsu Lake." When Kawarama turned around he found yet another bipedal otter. This one however was much smaller than Usohime, wore a blue and white kimono and was using a walking stick. It also had a long white beard that almost reached the floor.

"Oh great, another talking otter," said Kawarama, throwing his arms up in the air. The old otter just chuckled.

"My I ask why you came here my boy?"

"I didn't mean to come here. I just tried to perform the Summoning Jutsu. The next thing I know I'm falling, then I'm drowning, then I wake up with an otter staring into my face." Kawarama replied.

The old otter stroked its beard before saying:

"So you tried to perform the Summoning Jutsu without a summoning contract? Then it's no surprise that you ended up in a place like this in the way that you did."

"And a nasty fall it was too, your lucky Usoki spotted you and fished you out before you drowned," Usohime added. Kawarama then heard a deep groan behind him. As he turned he muttered: "Seriously, how do you guys keep sneaking up behind me..." This time, instead of a female or old bipedal otter, Kawarama was looking up at a massive otter, roughly the same size as the hokage mansion. It wore armour similar to Usohime, it also had a scaled wakizashi strapped to it's belt. Even though it wasn't standing on two legs it did look humanoid.

"Kawarama, say hello to Usoki," said Usohime. Kawarama gave a small wave accompanied by a nervous smile. Usoki merely grunted.

"I suppose I should introduce myself as well. My name is Usoken, it is a pleasure to meet you lad," the old otter said.

"It's...nice to meet you too. Now would you mind telling me where I am," said Kawarama. He was still a little confused. Usoken simply smiled at him.

"I already told you my boy, you are in Suihimitsu Lake, the home of the Otter clan." It was then that Kawarama finally took a good look at his surroundings.

Suihimitsu Lake was massive and surrounded by a forest. In the distance could be seen tall mountains, creating a natural wall between the lake and the rest of the world. Along the entire edge of the lake were multiple houses of all shapes and sizes made from logs. These houses were also floating on barges that were made from logs, just like the houses. There were many rivers leading off from the lake, like spokes on a bicycle wheel.

"Now I believe it is our turn to ask you some questions lad," said Usoken. Kawarama turned back to the otters.

"Sure, ask away," he said.

"Earlier you mentioned that you attempted the Summoning Jutsu, I take it that means you wish to have a summoning contract?" Usoken asked. Kawarama smiled.

"You better believe it. If you're offering that is?" Usoken chuckled whilst stroking his beard. He then turned and walked off into the forest.

"Follow me lad," he said. Kawarama did as he was told. Kawauso hopped onto Usohime's shoulder and then both she and Usoki followed as well.

The group trekked deep into the forest. They passed many different otter homes and Kawarama saw many different otters, of all shapes and sizes. The majority of them were in the same sort of attire as Usohime and Usoki. Kawarama could also faintly hear the sound of one of the rivers that connected to the lake.

When the group finally reached its destination the sun had begun to set. They had walked all the way to the mountains surrounding the valley. There was a waterfall coming out of the mountainside that fell into a large plunge pool. The pool then led off into a river which went into the forest.

"This lad, is the source of Suihimitsu Lake, and also where we shall see if you are fit to become a summoner of the otters," Usoken explained.

"Right. Um...what will I be doing exactly?" Kawarama asked. Usoken looked at him.

"You must meditate under that waterfall, the water must cover you. It is a very special water, very similar to the Toad Oil of Mt. Myoboku. If you are able to harness the power that the water gives you, then you will be able to sign our summoning contract."

'Mt. Myoboku.' Kawarama was sure he had heard that before.

"Hey old otter guy. I remember Jiraiya-sensei mentioning that Mt. Myoboku place, but he didn't mention anything about Toad Oil." Usoken stroked his beard.

"You're a student of Jiraiya ey? Well this is certainly interesting. Fugasaku told me much about him," he said.

"Wait you know my sensei?" Kawarama asked. He was quite surprised that a Toad summoner would be friends with otter summons.

"Well not directly. But if you want to know more about Mt. Myoboku and Toad Oil then ask him, it is not a concern of mine," Usoken said. "Now go and sit under the water fall and meditate."

Kawarama noticed a flat rock sticking out from the the surface of the water under the waterfall. He took off his kimono shirt and headband and placed them neatly on the ground. However, he kept his mesh shirt on. The otters were slightly surprised when they saw how well toned his body was, especially for his age. Kawarama swam to the rock and then proceeded to sit in the lotus position. He let the water flow over him, drenching him.

"Now it may take a while for the effects of the water to kick in, so I'm giving you until the sun rises to prove that you are capable." said Usoken. Kawarama, however, did not seem to be listening. Usoken stroked his beard in thought. then he chuckled. _'There may be hope for this one yet,'_ he thought.

The otters continued to observe Kawarama all through the night. At one point Kawarama began to feel something, like a tingling sensation, all throughout his body. It was like the water was flowing through his very chakra coils. He felt different, more powerful. When he opened his eyes he saw the otters smiling at him.

"Well lad, it looks like you have passed the test," said Usoken.

"Come here and you can sign the contract." Kawarama dived into the pool from the rock and swam to the otters. When he got out of the water, the great power he had felt seemed to disappear from his body.

"So um, what was that weird increase in my strength I just felt?" he asked.

"That lad, was the first step in your sage mode training," answered Usoken. Kawarama's eyes immediately lit up.

"Really? That's awesome. So what's the next step?"

"All in due time Lad," Usoken replied,

"for now you should return to your home. No doubt there are people worrying about you." Kawarama froze. Then he took a glance at the night sky. Then grabbed his head as if in pain.

"Oh no! I MISSED DINNER! Mum is so going to kill me." Usohime giggled at his antics.

"Don't worry. I'm sure your mother will forgive you considering the circumstances. Besides, we saw your headband and sent an otter to the Hidden Leaf village so he can bring you home," she said. Her words didn't seem to calm Kawarama down. He merely began running in panicked circles.

"Well while we are waiting I think it would be best if you signed the contract," said Usoken. He then pulled a large scroll out of nowhere and unravelled it to a clean space. This caused Kawarama to stop running around and pay attention.

"Alright, you'll sign here lad. You're going to have to use your blood though," he said. Kawarama nodded and bit his thumb, drawing blood. He then signed his name in the space.

"Now dab each of your fingers and press them all onto the space just below your name," said Usoken. Kawarama did so. Usoken returned the scroll to wherever he managed to pull it out from and then smiled.

"Well lad you are now a summoner of otters." Kawarama smiled back.

"Another thing before you go," added Usohime.

"Take Kawauso with you. He will be able to bring you here when you want to continue your training." Kawauso, who was still sitting on her shoulder, gave a squeak in reply before hopping onto Kawarama's shoulder.

"Alright, will do. Well I suppose I'll see you soon then. It's a little awkward because we don't know when we'll-" Kawarama was interrupted when a puff of smoke surrounded him and Kawauso.

The next thing he knew Kawarama was back in training ground three,

"-be going," he finished. He looked down to see a small otter sitting at his feet. It gave a quick salute before vanishing in a puff of smoke. The sun was now rising above the horizon.

"I suppose now would be a good time to tell everyone I'm alright, and I have to introduce you as well," he said. Kawauso gave an excited squeak in reply.

"Yeah, they're great people, I'm sure you'll get along fine." They then headed to the Senju compound.

When they reached the compound Kawarama was almost at the door when he suddenly felt all of his energy drain away.

"Huh, I guess that test thing took a lot out of me. I'll ask Usoken about that when I...see him...next." Kawarama then collapsed from exhaustion.

* * *

 **So yeah that's it for this chapter, I hope you liked it.**

 **Who guessed his summons would be otters? Anyone?**

 **I'm pretty sure no-one else has done them. Plus they are just awesome.**

 **Until next time readers.**


	9. The Second Hokage and Clouds

The Second Hokage and Clouds

 **Hello everyone and welcome back.**

 **Last time I forgot to mention what the otter's names mean and I just think it would be good to let you know.**

 **Kawauso - This simply means otter. However, I found that Uso also means otter, don't know why there are two ways of saying it, there just are**

 **Usoken - This means intelligent otter**

 **Usohime - This means princess otter**

 **Usoki - Ki means a number of things: Energy, Spirit, Life essence, etc. make of it what you will**

 **Any-who on with the show**

* * *

When Kawarama opened his eyes, he found himself in his room lying on his bed. The sun was shining in through the window, seeing as his room was on the west side of the house, he guessed it was already the afternoon. He found Kawauso lying on the bed next to him. Getting up he went to the kitchen, he was still in the same attire as he had been earlier that day.

 _'I wonder how long I was asleep?'_ he thought. _'guess it couldn't have been more than half a day or so?'_

When he got to the kitchen he found his mother, his father and Jiraiya sitting at the table.

"Oh Kawarama thank goodness you're awake. Are you OK? Kushina and Tsunade found you at the front door when they went out.," said Kaiyumi.

"Oh, yeah I'm fine," Kawarama replied.

"So kid, where did you end up?" asked Jiraiya.

"Well, I was at Suihimitsu Lake," Kawarama answered. It was at that moment that Kawauso appeared on Kawarama's shoulder.

"I've never heard of that place, though I guess it's where this little fellow came from," said Jiraiya as he eyed Kawauso.

"Yeah, it's the home of the otter clan. I managed to sign a contract with them." Kawarama said, beaming with pride.

A smile appeared on Jiraiya's face.

"Well then, I think you've more than earned this," he said.

He placed an object on the table. It was the ninjato that Kawarama had asked for in the shop.

Kawarama practically leapt across the room, picked up the short sword and drew it.

"This is awesome," he said, his eyes fixed on the blade. Kaiyumi then held up her hands.

"Now, now. Don't go swinging that thing around in here. Go outside for that." Kawarama just smiled apologetically before running outside.

"Honestly, that son of mine," Kaiyumi sighed.

Jiraiya then turned to Itama.

"Now, I'd like you to tell me why exactly it was that you thought it would be a good idea to teach such a young kid the Shadow Clone Jutsu?" Itama was surprised; he hadn't been expecting a question like that. He rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed.

"Oh, well you know...to help him train and stuff," he replied. Jiraiya frowned at him.

"So basically, you don't have a valid reason as to why you taught your son a forbidden Jutsu that could, potentially, have killed him." Itama averted his gaze.

"No, I guess I don't," he said. Jiraiya sighed.

"Honestly, you're suppose to be one of the Hokage's most trusted Shinobi." Itama seemed to sink into himself.

"I'll keep the kid safe. Make sure he doesn't overexert himself or anything," Jiraiya continued.

"Thank you Jiraiya. We trust you to take good care of Kawarama," Kaiyumi said.

It wasn't long until Kawarama returned. He seemed to have found a strap and now wore his new weapon over his left shoulder. Itama smiled at him.

"Alright Kawarama, I think it's time I showed you something," he said. Kawarama had a fairly good idea what he meant.

* * *

Itama took Kawarama to the Uzumaki house in the Senju compound and walked up to the ornate wooden door.

"You know who this is, right Kawarama?" Itama asked, pointing at the Shinobi on the door. Kawarama nodded.

"Sure, that's old Grandpa Tobirama," he said. Itama nodded.

"Yes. The Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju. Younger brother to Hashirama Senju, The First Hokage. Older brother to Itama Senju, who I was named after. As well as older brother to Kawarama Senju, who we named you after. Tobirama was heralded as one of the greatest sensory Ninjas and water-style users in Shinobi history," Itama said, never taking his eyes off the door. Kawarama looked at his father.

"Dad, what was Grandpa like?" he asked. Itama's gaze fell to the floor.

"I don't know...he died before I was born. I never got the chance to meet him," he replied. He turned to Kawarama, a small smile on his face.

"But there's no point fretting over the past. If we do how can we expect to move forward? Anyway, let's show you what's inside." Itama then walked up to the door and placed his hand on it. A seal array appeared on the door and seemed to absorb into Itama's hand. Itama then pushed the door with his hand and it slowly opened.

The room the two entered was rather large, with a number of support beams dotted around and forming a square. On the far side were two manikins for two sets of plate armour. One was red with large shoulder and thigh guards. Underneath was a simple black suit. On the head of the mannequin was a Hidden Leaf headband. The armour set was blue and there was a similar black suit under this armour. There were also armbands under the under each the shoulder guards in each arm. This armour was clearly different from the red armour due to the distinctive white fur collar and a happuri instead of the classic headband. The happuri also bore the emblem of the Hidden Leaf village. Kawarama noticed that the blue armour had many cracks running all over it. His eyes were drawn to a particularly large crack that spread out from the left side of the chest.

Above each mannequin there was an image framed on the wall. Above the red armour was an image of a man with tanned skin and dark eyes with long, black hair and a fringe that framed his face. Kawarama knew this man was Hashirama, his great-uncle. Above the blue armour was the face of a fair-skinned man with white, shaggy hair and dark eyes. He also had three red marks on his face, one under each eye and one on his chin. Kawarama recognised this as man his grandfather, Tobirama.

It was all a little overwhelming. Here in this room was the armour of two among the most powerful Ninja in history. However, Kawarama was a little confused by the state of Tobirama's armour.

"Hey Dad, I don't get why Grandpa's armour is all busted up," he said. Itama sighed.

"My mother, your grandmother, told me that it was recovered after Tobirama died. He had fought with the Kinkaku squad in order to by time for his teammates to escape...He was a remarkable Shinobi who cared about all those close to him even to his last moments. He is someone we should all aspire to be."

Itama then walked towards the blue set of armour and removed the happuri from the mannequin.

"But anyway, enough about all that. The reason why I brought you in here was to give you this." He handed the happuri to Kawarama.

"I know that he would be proud to know this passed to you," he said. Kawarama was surprised, he hadn't expected to receive anything. He thought this visit was just about learning more of his family history. He gratefully took the happuri in his hands. He then replaced his headband with the happuri. Itama smiled.

"I think it suits you very well," he said. Kawarama gave him a massive grin by way of a reply. Itama then produced a scroll from one of the pouches in his flak jacket.

"This scroll contains a number of Jutsu. If you need any help with them don't hesitate to ask," he said. Kawarama gratefully accepted the scroll.

* * *

When they returned to the kitchen Kaiyumi wasted no time.

"Alright Kawarama, to celebrate your becoming a Genin we are going out to have a feast, of sorts," she said. Kawarama was ecstatic. A celebration, just for him? It sounded great. But then a thought struck him.

"Wait, what about Kushina? She's a Genin too isn't she?" he asked.

"Not until she completes Tsunade's test she's not," Jiraiya said. Kaiyumi nodded.

"Right, and so she is most likely still out undergoing that test as we speak. I suppose we'll just have to wait for them," she said.

"You know as well as I do that Tsunade wouldn't want us to wait just for her," Jiraiya replied.

"But they don't know where we're going. Heck, they don't even know that this is happening!"

"It's alright, I'll leave a shadow clone behind," added Kawarama. The three adults looked at each another, then back to Kawarama.

"Not a bad idea kid," said Jiraiya.

"Well then, I suppose that means we can head off," said Kaiyumi.

On their way to the restaurant Kawarama noticed the time had really passed by quickly and the sun was already beginning to set behind the trees.

* * *

The restaurant didn't seem like anything special. Not that it was bad quality, it just seemed...plain.

 _'Mum'_ Kawarama concluded, it seemed all too obvious that she had picked this simple place out. It did have one thing going for it however, and that was that it seemed like a great place to have a get together. Indeed it was. The small group ate and laughed, told stories, embarrassing facts about people they knew, adventures they had had in their carrier and much more...

"NO!"

"Come on, just one drop."

"I said no!"

"Jeez Kaiyumi, why you gotta be like that, it'll be fine, trust me," said Jiraiya with a drunken grin and red face. Kaiyumi on the other hand was struggling not to punch him.

"Kawarama is twelve years old, he is not going to drink sake, understand?!" she yelled.

"He's a Genin, and in the Ninja world that means he is an adult, and so why can't he drink some alcohol?"

"Because I'm his mother and I said so," Kaiyumi stated bluntly. Jiraiya frowned.

"What if we go on a mission where he is required to drink alcohol? He wouldn't be used to it. That means he'd get drunk easily and possibly jeopardise the mission, and in tern jeopardise his life," he said. Kaiyumi sighed.

"There's no arguing with you. Fine, but just a sip," Kaiyumi said

Jiraiya's grin immediately returned to his face.

"Alright kid, take this," he said, handing a cup to Kawarama who had been listening to the conversation with a raised eyebrow. Meanwhile Itama was laughing his head off, a hint of red across his face. Kawarama took the cup, and then a sip. He immediately spat the contents into Jiraiya's face. Now both Itama and Kaiyumi were laughing their heads off.

"That's disgusting!" he cried. "It's like rice water mixed with the most bitter thing you could find."

"Really? You think it's that bad?" Jiraiya asked. Kawarama gave a nod.

"Well sometimes things taste better the second time. Have another sip," said Jiraiya. Kawarama hesitantly took the cup and took a sip.

Immediately Kawarama froze.

"See, it's not that bad right?" asked Jiraiya. Kawarama dropped the cup and bolted out of the restaurant.

"Kawarama!" Kaiyumi yelled. She then turned on Jiraiya with a face that looked like she'd tear him to shreds.

"What?" He asked.

* * *

However it wasn't the horrible taste of Sake that was going through Kawarama's head. It was something much more terrifying.

 _'Kushina.'_

As Kawarama ran he came across a familiar blonde figure.

"Hey Kawarama, what's wrong? You in a hurry?" asked Minato.

"Follow me, quickly. I'll explain on the way!" Kawarama said as he rushed past. Minato wasted no time in running after his friend.

"So, what's going on?" Minato asked as he and Kawarama headed in the direction of the North Village Gate.

"Kushina's been kidnapped by the Hidden Cloud," Kawarama replied through gritted teeth.

Minato's eyes went wide. Kushina...had been kidnapped?

"How do you know?" he asked.

"They took out my Shadow Clone that was at the house, and I can faintly sense their chakra signatures along with Kushina's just outside the North Gate," said Kawarama.

Minato furrowed his brow as they sped towards the gate.

* * *

The moon was moving high into the night sky when the duo reached the gate. Kawarama halted. A look of dread slowly crept across his face.

"I can't sense them...their chakra signatures, I don't know where they are," he said, his voice hinting at the beginnings of panic. Minato, however, was having none of it. He grabbed Kawarama by the shoulders and said: "Kawarama calm down. We'll get her back. I promise." Kawarama took a deep breath and then nodded.

"Now come on, they must have left something that will help us find them," Minato said.

The pair then began searching around the gate for any clues that might lead them in the direction of the kidnappers.

It wasn't long before Minato spotted something. He ran over to it and bent crouched to pick up something.

"Did you find something?" asked Kawarama hopefully. Minato held it up for Kawarama to see.

In Minato's hand were a few strands of crimson hair. Both knew exactly who it belonged to.

Without warning Minato darted off in the direction they found the hair.

"Wait, Minato hold on a second. Dammit why does he have to be so darn fast," Kawarama moaned as he sprinted after his friend.

* * *

 _'Why me? Why do these things always have to happen to me?'_ Kushina's mind was in turmoil as she trudged along behind two of the three Shinobi from the Hidden Cloud Village who had kidnapped her. The other was holding the ropes that bound her arms.

They had jumped her when she went home. She had just completed the test that Tsunade had surprised her team with and was heading back on her own as Tsunade said she had 'something to do'. She returned home to an all but empty house. She was tired and so did not have the strength to effectively fight back. Now she was heading to the Hidden Cloud Village where who-knows-what would happen to her.

At one point during the night Kushina felt the rope holding her arms slacken slightly. The next thing she knew she was flying through the air. When she regained her bearings she found herself at the top of a tree, under the light of the moon, in the hands of none other than Minato. He looked at her with a smile.

"It's alright, you're safe now," he said. Something in his hand caught her eye. It was red hair. Her hair. She had been ripping strands out so that if anyone came looking for here they could follow it. Not that she thought anyone would.

"Your hair is beautiful, so it was easy to spot," Minato's words brought Kushina's attention back to him.

"So...why did you always keep ignoring me?"

"It's because I know you can take care of yourself. Your strong so you don't need any help. This is an exception because this isn't your fight, it's one between villages, it's different from all your other battles, so I came to help," Kushina simply stared at him, wander in her eyes.

"Anyway, let's head back. No doubt people would be worrying by now," Minato continued. Kushina nodded and they soon returned to the ground.

Once there they found Kawarama. He appeared to be cleaning his ninjato. There were two bodies lying at his feet. When he saw them approaching a smile instantly appeared on his face.

"Great, you got her," he said. Minato glanced at the bodies and then gave Kawarama a concerned look.

"Hey, Kawarama...are you ok?" he asked.

"Yeah I'm fine, I think we should be more worried about her though," Kawarama replied while indicating an unconscious Kushina.

"Yeah, I suppose we should get back to the Village," said Minato

"Just don't drop her, ok?"

"I wouldn't dream of it." They then headed back to the Hidden Leaf Village.

* * *

 **Well? what did you guys think? pretty good right?**

 **No, no enough self-flattery...oh, you're still here.**

 **Well, yeah. See you next time.**


	10. A Little Bit of R&R

**Hey everyone, how's it goin?**

 **I've got another chapter for you. Sorry if the title seems a bit week, I couldn't come up with a better one.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoy**

* * *

"How did they get through the village's defences undetected?"

"I am not sure Lord Hokage, and although that is a major concern, I am a little more worried about why they wanted Kushina," said Kaiyumi, both her and Itama were with the Hokage in his office. Since it was a sensitive topic of conversation the Hokage had activated seals that prevented any noise from leaving the room so as to stop any uninvited listeners.

"You don't think they knew about...it, do you?" asked Kaiyumi worriedly. The Hokage shook his head.

"That is unlikely," he replied. "Very few people were aware of the Nine-Tails presence inside Kushina besides you, a number of Anbu and councillors as well as myself. The more likely reason is because of her unnaturally powerful chakra."

"But even so, how did they find out about Kushina even being here, let alone her strong chakra?"

"That I am unsure of."

"Well, shouldn't Tsunade have been with her?"

"Tsunade had sent Kushina home while she attended to some...issues," Solemn looks appeared on Kaiyumi and Itama's faces. They were very aware of what Tsunade had been through lately.

"I will send out a field team from T&I to see if we can find out anything about our visitors and their intentions," added Itama, breaking the silence. The Hokage nodded.

"Very well, inform me if they find anything," he said.

"Yes Lord Hokage." Itama and Kaiyumi gave slight bow, then left the office. Hiruzen released the seals before giving a heavy sigh.

 _'What could the Cloud be after?' h_ e thought.

* * *

In training ground three there was a puff of smoke. It dissipated to reveal Kawarama with Kawauso on his shoulders.

"Man, otter sage training sure is tough," he said. He had continued his training at the waterfall for some time now. Usoken had also explained to him what otter sage Jutsu was. In the waters that flowed from the waterfall and into Suihimitsu lake contained a special type of chakra. Otter sage Jutsu training teaches one how to harness that chakra and be able to store it for future battles. In this way it was superior to toad sage Jutsu. However toad sage Jutsu was superior in that natural energy could be taken from anywhere, otter sage Jutsu could only take natural energy from the waters of Suihimitsu lake. Toad Sage Mode also lasted marginally longer than Otter Sage Mode.

Kawauso gave a small squeak, which drew Kawarama's attention.

"Yeah, I'm pretty hungry too. I suppose we could go find something to eat," he said. Kawauso gave an excited chirp before the two headed off into the village.

Whilst wandering the streets, looking for a suitable place for a meal, the pair came across another duo out and about.

"Oh, hey Shikaku, hey Inoichi, where's Choza?" Kawarama asked. Shikaku simply sighed.

"He's back at his family compound training, Inoichi is out to get a book," he replied. Kawarama raised an eyebrow.

"And...you...are going with him?" the idea of the Nara doing anything other than cloud watching seemed almost unheard of.

"He practically dragged me out," Shikaku replied grumpily. Inoichi sighed.

"Oh come on Shikaku, what's wrong with doing something other than cloud watching?" Shikaku and Kawarama both looked at Inoichi like he was insane.

"I know, I know. It was a stupid question," he said.

"Hey, do you guys mind if I join you? I've been thinking about reading a book myself actually," Kawarama asked. A smile appeared Inoichi's face.

"Sure, we'd be happy for you to tag along," he said.

"It would be too troublesome to try an stop you, Not much point in it either," Shikaku said half-heartedly. Kawarama just looked confusedly at Shikaku for a moment.

"ooook." Kawauso suddenly burst out with a bunch of annoyed squeaks and chirps.

"Ok, ok, jeez, look I know you're hungry, but let's have a look in the bookshop and then we can go get something to eat, ok?" Kawauso seemed to think it over before settling down. Kawarama sighed, he then noticed the peculiar looks Inoichi and Shikaku were giving him.

"Can you...understand him, Kawarama?" Inoichi asked.

"Well yeah, why? Can't you?" the pair shook their heads.

"Huh, who knew?" Kawarama said, simply.

"Well anyway, let's head to the bookshop," Inoichi said. The trio then headed to a bookshop guided by Inoichi.

* * *

As Kawarama browsed the shelves an image flashed through his mind. He saw a man's face, one of the cloud Shinobi from before, and there was a look of horror on it. His eyes practically bulged out of his head, his mouth was agape. Kawarama then looked down. His ninjato was piercing the man's chest. He immediately stepped back and let go of the ninjato, but it was stuck to his hand, so he pulled the weapon from the man's torso and let him drop to the floor. Kawarama's eyes then fell to his hands; they were covered with blood.

"Hey Kawarama are you ok?" He was brought out of his rather horrifying day dream by Inoichi's concerned voice. He turned to his fellow Genin.

"Oh, yeah I'm fine, I just thought I saw what might be a really good book,"

"Oh really, which one?" Inoichi asked. Kawarama almost panicked, he immediately picked up the first book that caught his eye and showed it to Inoichi.

"This one," he said with a hesitant smile. Kawauso sighed, however an otter would sigh, and leapt onto Kawarama's shoulder.

"The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi? Interesting choice," Inoichi said.

"Yeah well, I've been told that you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover,"

 _'Why the hell am I defending this book, I didn't even know it existed until now'_ Kawarama thought.

"Ok then. Anyway, I've got my book, Shikaku hasn't picked one out because picking one out is and I quote 'too troublesome',"

"You expected differently?" Kawarama cocked an eyebrow.

"Touche," Inoichi said. They then went and bought they're books.

As the trio exited the shop Kawarama noticed Kushina further down the street.

"Hey, Kushina!" he called. However, Kushina did not seem to hear him. Kawarama sighed, then he turned to Shikaku and Inoichi saying:

"I'll see you guys later"

"Sure, see you around," Inoichi replied. Kawarama then ran after Kushina. As he followed Kushina she turned a corner into an alleyway. When he reached the alley he found she had disappeared. A smirk then appeared on his face.

"This will be a perfect opportunity to see how effective my sensory training has been,"he said. At that moment Kawauso appeared in front of Kawarama's face. The look Kawarama received was all he needed to tell him what Kawauso was thinking He then put his hand into a half-tiger seal and focused his chakra. He then began to sense all the chakra signatures within a limited area.

 _'So my range is only fifty metres...Not quite where I want it to be. I suppose I'll just have to train more.'_ Kawarama managed to spot Kushina's chakra signature not too far away. She seemed to be heading to the village's park.

When he finally saw Kushina she was heading towards a set of swings in the park. One of the swings was already taken up by none other than Minato. This stopped Kawarama in his tracks. He watched Kushina sit down on one of the other swings and then start talking to Minato, a great big smile spreading across her face. This was certainly...unexpected. It didn't seem that long ago that she first complained about him, and it wasn't like it had been the last time, by far. So Kawarama decided to find out exactly what was going on.

* * *

"So Kushina, it's the first time you've been late to our little get together, even by a little bit. Is there something wrong?" Minato asked.

"No not really, I just had to give Kawarama the slip."

"Wait, why did you have to give him the slip? Surely he could have joined us?" Kushina looked a little embarrassed.

"Um well...y'see it's not that simple, it-"

"Well it doesn't really matter, he should be along soon anyway," Minato interjected. Kushina leapt of the swing.

"What? How? I definitely lost him," She exclaimed. Minato chuckled.

"You mean he didn't tell you about his sensory abilities?"

"Sensory...what-now?" she asked dumbly.

"That's exactly what I said when I found out," the pairs attention was drawn to Kawarama, who was leaning on a nearby fence. A smirk on his face.

"Oh hey Kawarama heheheh...how long have you been there?" muttered Kushina

"Long enough," he replied as he sauntered over to them.

"You know, considering what you've said about Minato in the past, this new development is certainly, interesting," Kawarama continued.

"Kawarama, I swear if you don't shut up right now I'm going to make a new forest clearing using your head as a sledge hammer" Kushina said through gritted teeth, her fists clenched. Kawarama did seemed to take no notice of her comment. He didn't even stop to think how it would even be possible.

"What do you mean Kawarama?" Minato asked.

"Well ya' see, she always used to say things like 'Minato's a jerk', 'I hate him so much' and so on," Minato's gaze fell to the floor and Kawarama felt a massive wave of killing intent flow his way. Sensing the same thing Kawauso leapt onto Minato's shoulders, knowing he'd be safe there.

"Kawarama!" he slowly turned. What greeted him filled him with regret. There was Kushina, clenched fists, gritted teeth, her eyes were white and her hair was waving about in Nine large tail-like clumps.

"Though I suspect her mood may have changed," Kawarama muttered.

"Um Kawarama, is this...normal?" Minato asked, hesitantly.

"Honestly...no"

"YOU ARE SO DEAD!" Kushina yelled as she leapt straight at him, a fist pulled back. Kawarama had no time to dodge. The blow hit him square in the chest. Kawarama was sent flying into a nearby tree, went straight through it and made a large dent in the tree behind.

"I think you may have overdone it," said Minato looking at the damage.

As Kushina calmed down, a small scroll rolled to her feet. Curious, she picked up the scroll and unravelled it. On the scroll was a sealing formula.

"Hey Kawarama, is this yours? What exactly is it?" All she got in reply was a twitch from his seemingly unconscious body. Kushina simply shrugged, then put some chakra into the scroll.

 _'Just like Shiro-sensei taught us,'_ she thought. Unfortunately she was a little unprepared for what was sealed away. Kushina was knocked to the ground with a very large Jutsu scroll lying on top of her.

"Ow."

"Yeah, that happened to me as well," said Kawarama, who had regained consciousness and was slowly walking over to them. Both he and Minato then lifted the scroll off Kushina. Then Kawauso hopped back onto Kawarama's shoulders. Kawarama frowned at him.

"Good to know you've got my back bud," Kawauso averted his gaze, clearly embarrassed.

"What the hell even is this Kawarama?" said Kushina. Kawarama turned his attention to her.

"It's a scroll containing a number of Jutsu, some of which were developed by my grandfather. My dad gave me it sealed inside a smaller scroll so I can carry it around easily."

"Oh that's so cool, y'know," Kushina said. She then unravelled the scroll and began browsing the Jutsu.

"Yeah, it even inspired me to try and develop my own Jutsu. I've still got a ways to go though."

As Kushina looked through the scroll she noticed that each Jutsu had a brief description as well as sketches of the required hand seals and what the desired outcome should look like. Water Style: Water Wall, Water Style: Water Shockwave and Water Style: Severing Wave were just a few among a very large number of Jutsu. One Jutsu in particular made her stop her browsing.

"So what's with this one?" she asked. Kawarama stood behind her and lent over her shoulder to get a better look.

"I'm not sure, it's in a language I can't understand."

"It says: The Hiraishin, A space/time Ninjustu. It allows the user to instantaneously transport themselves to a previously marked location. At least that's what Kurama translated." Kawarama raised an eyebrow.

"Um...who's Kurama?"

"The Nine-Tails"

"WHAT!? You mean it has a name? And It's actually helping us? ...Ok I need to go lie down and then I need to have a chat with our big, orange friend," Kawarama yelled. Kushina nodded. As they began to walk home a thought crossed Kawarama's mind.

"Y'know, I can't help but feel we're forgetting something," he said. Then he and Kushina turned round. Minato was standing there with an expression that could only be described as confusion beyond confusion.

"Oh crap," the pair sighed.

* * *

Far to the south, at the coast, the ground shook as dozens of horses galloped through the woods. At the head of the group rode a man on a black horse. The horse had two exhaust pipe like objects on each side and instead of reins it had handle bars. The rider however did not use these. He leant back in his saddle and kept his arms folded, but managed to ride without any difficulty. There were three katanas strapped to each side of his belt. He also wore a helmet with a golden crescent moon ornament and an eyepatch over his right eye.

He held up one of his hands, signalling the group to halt. In the distance, only a couple of hundred metres or so from the shore could be seen a small island. A smirk appeared on the leader's face.

"The land of waves. Ripe for the taking." He then turned his head towards his men.

"Well boys, what do ya say?" Their answer was a large cheer. The leader's smirk widened.

"Alright, put your game faces on and let's go kick some ass." With another cheer the group continued in the direction of the land of waves.

* * *

 **So yeah...Kawarama's got a new (well known) book, a certain secret is out an it looks like there will be an upcoming mission. Anyone know who this eye patch wearing rider is? If you do then you're awesome. I just wanted to think of someone to be the villain, I thought who better than one of the coolest anime characters I've seen.**


	11. A C-Rank Mission

**Hey Guys, Girls and...don't quite know where I was going with that, sorry.**

 **I am going to warn you now, the time between when I release chapters may become a bit longer for a while. I have been trying to release a chapter every week, two at most. But as I said, that may change for the foreseeable future.**

 **Any-hoo, here is another chapter of the best tale ever told (In my opinion at least).**

* * *

"Ok let me get this straight..." Minato was sat opposite Kawarama and Kushina in the Senju household.

"...The Nine-Tailed Fox, the supposed most powerful of all the Tailed Beasts...is sealed inside of Kushina?" The pair sitting opposite him nodded.

"Ok." Kawarama and Kushina blinked.

"Ok? No 'why'? No 'how'? Not even a 'since when'? Just...Ok?" Kawarama looked surprised. Minato simply shrugged.

"It's not like I can do anything about it, and besides if my view on Kushina changed because of something that she didn't even have a say in, well then I wouldn't exactly be a very good friend,"

"You have a point there."

Kawarama sighed and turned to Kushina.

"Now to find out what its deal is." He glanced at Minato.

"Be sure to catch us, ok?"

"Um, right...wait what?" But Kawarama had already performed the handseals.

"Tetragram Seal: Mind Transfer!"

In Kushina's mindscape Kawarama stood next to Kushina facing a expectant looking Nine-Tails.

" **What do you want?"** it asked.

"Ok, first off: You have a name?" The Nine-Tails nodded.

"Why didn't you mention that in the first place, 'Kurama'?"

" **You didn't ask"** Kurama said plainly.

"Oh well great, so what are you a girl? A guy? Or do we just keep calling you 'it'?" Kurama slammed one of its paws on the gate.

" **I am MALE!"** he roared.

"Ok geez, it was a joke. Now onto why you helped us. When we first met you weren't exactly friendly." Kushina tapped him on the shoulder, drawing his attention away from Kurama.

"I think I understand why." Kawarama's jaw dropped.

"Wait a minute. You're actually defending him?"

"Well, I kind of understand what he's going through. Moving hosts is kind of like moving house, I you think about it." Kawarama facepalmed.

"I cannot believe you're saying this right now."

"Anyway, when you move house, normally you are uncomfortable and you get a bit grouchy. But as time passes you get used and you eventually are able to..." Kushina glanced at Kurama.

"...tolerate the new 'neighbours'."

Kawarama stared at Kushina, then turned to Kurama, then back to Kushina. He sighed.

"I'm going to need some time to think. But this is not over," he said, pointing a scrutinising finger at Kurama. Kurama merely scoffed. Kawarama then released the Jutsu.

* * *

Minato and Kawarama were sitting atop the Hokage monument, looking out over the village. Kawauso was sleeping between them.

"Man, the village looks amazing up here," said Kawarama.

"Yeah, it does," replied Minato. There was a short silence.

"I want to protect this village, and all the people in it, so much. That's one of the reasons I want to become Hokage, It's why I will become Hokage. one day," said Minato. Kawarama smiled.

"I'd be more than happy to help you achieve that." His smile then turned into a smirk

"Even if it means I have to be an obstacle for you to overcome." He then lay back on the ground.

"But at this rate it's going to take a while. I mean we've been Genin for almost a year now and all we've done are D-Rank missions. I mean, we are pretty good fighters. I would have thought that by now we would have been assigned at least one C-Rank mission."

A voice came from behind them "It's funny you should say that kid." The duo turned around to see Jiraiya with a smirk on his face.

"The mission I'm assigning you is a fairly simple one..." the Hokage said as he addressed Team Jiraiya in his office.

"You are to clear out a group of bandits currently held up in The Land of Waves. This gentlemen is your client and will bring you to your destination." The Hokage then gestured to a man who was standing to his right. The man must have been in his mid thirties, he was fairly well built, possibly a carpenter or builder of some kind. He had brown spiky hair and and a goatee to go with it.

"Hey there, my name is Tazuna...are you sure these guys are gonna be enough?" he said. The Hokage chuckled.

"The children will do fine against simple bandits. Jiraiya, on the other hand will barely have to use much in the way of force."

Tazuna turned back to the team who gave him confident smirks. He sighed.

"Alright, I'll take your word for it. Well, we'd best head off." He then made to leave the office.

"We'll meet you at the southern gate in about an hour," said Jiraiya "After all we will be gone for a few days." He then turned to his team.

"You guys go home and pack accordingly." They all left the room.

* * *

"Ok, I've packed all the things you'll need," said Kaiyumi.

"Oh Mum, I'm old enough to do that kind of stuff myself," Kawarama sighed. Itama chuckled.

"If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times, your mother is just being your mother. As you get older there is more you can do yourself, and so the less you need us for, so just let the little things slide."

"Alright," Kawarama said. Kawauso hopped off his shoulder so that he could put on his backpack, and then hopped straight back on. They then walked to the entrance of the Senju compound.

"Ok, so this is it, your first C-Rank mission. Good luck, and try not to get hurt," said Kaiyumi.

"Go show those bandits what the Senju clan are made of," Itama said. Kawarama gave them a smile.

"You bet!" He then headed off towards the south gate.

* * *

As the group walked along the road towards the Land of Waves, Tazuna, who had remained silent for most of the journey, spoke up.

"Ok, so your Hokage fellow didn't exactly explain everything I told him. Probably expected me to tell you. Anyway, first off: these guys aren't just in The Land of Waves. On the coast they have a base, because they've got horses, but they can't get their horses across the water. I still don't get how they managed to set it up in such a short space of time."

"What kind of 'base' are we talking about here?" Jiraiya asked.

"It's a small wooden fort, only a couple of logs high, only big enough to hold their horses."

"It sounds more like they have made an enclosure," said Hiashi, matter of factly.

"Yeah, I suppose it does. Any-hoo, the second thing is their leader. He's some samurai guy. He has an eyepatch, six swords and is referred to as The One Eyed Dragon, or something like that anyway,"

Jiraiya put a hand to his chin. _'One Eyed Dragon, where have I heard that before'_.

"An idea would be formulating a plan to deal with the 'fort' first, we can think about their leader once we have dealt with that," said.

"Agreed," they all said.

It was at this point that Tazuna noticed Kawauso. He was staring straight at him, almost curiously.

"Uh, so what's this thing?"

"This, is Kawauso. An otter in case you can't tell," Kawarama replied. Kawauso also gave a reply in the form of a faint growl. Tazuna flinched.

"Yeah, I can see it's an otter. What I meant was: what's it doing on your shoulder? It's not coming with us is it?" Kawarama raised an eyebrow.

"Well yeah, he's a friend, also...he can handle himself." On cue Kawauso shot a tiny water bullet into Tazuna's face. This drew a chuckle from the rest of the group.

"Yeah, yeah, very funny. Now come on, there's no time to waste." And with that the group continued on to the Land of Waves.

* * *

When they came in sight of the so, called fort it was late afternoon. Jiraiya decided they would wait until nightfall and plan in the meantime. It didn't take long to come up with a strategy, Kill the guards, free the horses, then move on to The Land of waves. So they merely waited until nightfall. Kawarama thought it might be a good time to do a bit of reading. He fetched The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi from his backpack, then went and sat against a tree.

As he read Jiraiya walked over to him.

"What ya readin' there kid?"

"This," Kawarama showed Jiraiya the cover of the book. Jiraiya smiled.

"I thought so. What do you think of it?"

"So far I like it, the story is good. The main character, Naruto, is awesome. I've already read the book once. If that doesn't tell you what I think, I don't know what will."

Jiraiya chuckled. "You know it's all based on a true events that happened to the writer," he said.

"Really? The guy must be awesome then."

"Yeah he is. But you wouldn't believe how the writer came up with the name."

"How?"

"The idea popped into to his head while eating a bowl of ramen," Jiraiya said with a big grin. Kawarama cocked an eyebrow.

"How do you know all this? Are you some personal friend of the guy?"

"You could say that. Flick to the back of the book," Kawarama did so. What he found was an image of a familiar spiky grey haired looking man. Kawarama looked up at Jiraiya and then back at the picture.

"I'm almost done with another book I've been writing. Would you like to be the first to read it?" Kawarama beamed at him.

"Wow, really, that'd be awesome!" Jiraiya grinned. However his attention was drawn to the sky.

"Heheh, funny how time flies," he said. Kawarama also looked upwards. The moon was climbing high and stars dotted the night sky. The pair looked at each other and nodded. It was time to go to work.

The 'fort' was small square shape, each side was about thirty metres long. At the centre of the North-facing wall there was a makeshift gate; it comprised of a large fence that would have to be lifted out of the way. There were also guards patrolling the wall; most likely on some kind of raised parapet so they easily see over the roughly six foot-high wall. Each of the guards was carrying a torch and there were also a number of torches set up along the wall...

"There are also guards patrolling the courtyard. The horses are on the south side of the fort facing the water, they appear to be grazing on some hay," said Hiashi, his Byakugan active.

"Alright, you know what to do. Kawarama comes in from the East, Minato from the West and myself from the North. Once you take out the guards send the horses to the north wall where I'll have opened the gate. Hiashi stays here to guard Tazuna and only leaves him when one of us is in need of his help, Got it?...Scatter." And with that the Shinobi went about the first phase of their mission.

As Kawarama leapt over the wall, he quickly dispatched two guards with a shuriken to the back of the neck. Seeing no other guards along his section of the wall Kawarama moved to the courtyard and the horses. The horses were in lines with their reins tied to hitching posts. They were quite happily munching on hay that had been stacked in front of each of them against the wall. Kawarama went about untying all the reins.

It wasn't long before he felt a light shining on the side of his face.

"Hey!" he heard. Kawarama whirled round to see one of the guards. The guard quickly threw away his torch and drew his sword. Kawauso leapt onto the man's face and began scratching. While the man tried to wrench Kawauso off Kawarama delivered a hard punch to his solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him then hit him on the back of the neck. The man collapsed, unconscious. With an emotionless expression Kawarama drew his ninjato and raised it to strike the unconscious man in the back of the neck. Before he did so however, the image of the Cloud Ninja flashed through his mind again. Kawarama froze, then his limbs began to shake and sweat rolled down the side of his face.

He was brought out of this episode by the panicked neighs of the horses. He noticed a brighter light out of the corner of his eye and span round, ready to face what he presumed to be a group of guards. However, what he found wasn't guards, but fire. The torch the guard had tossed away had landed on the hay. The flames were quickly and easily spreading through the dry vegetation, and were beginning to creep into the logs that made up the south wall of the fort.

Minato and Jiraiya appeared by Kawarama's side.

"What the hell did you do kid?!" Jiraiya asked.

"I didn't do anything, the guard threw the torch!" Kawarama shouted back.

"Alright alright, let's focus on the fire. Minato, you and I will free the horses. Kawarama, seeing as you're the only one in our team who knows Water Style Ninjutsu I suggest you get to work."

"But, but...But I won't be able to put this fire out with any of them," Jiraiya's eyes widened. He sighed.

"Well so much for the element of surprise. Either way let's get these horses outta' here." With that The three of them ran down the line of horses, cutting their reins as they went. The horses wasted no time in running out of the fort through the open gate, courtesy of Jiraiya.

Minutes later Team Jiraiya and Tazuna stood a few metres away from the now ablaze fort, all of their expressions serious. Jiraiya then turned to Tazuna, his expression now sheepish.

"You wouldn't happen to know a place where we could set up shop do you?"

Tazuna gave a chuckle.

"I just might," he replied.

* * *

A hill just outside the village in The Land of Waves was dotted with campfires. At the central campfire sat two men. One was the leader of the group, The One Eyed Dragon. The other wore a brown trench coat and had a scar on his left cheek. A man came running up to them.

"Big boss! Big Boss! There's trouble! The shore fort is on fire!" he cried.

"What?!" said The Dragon. He shot up, knocking away the stool he was sitting on. He saw in the distance the glow of fire. An angry expression appeared on his face. He held out his hand and the trench coat-wearing man placed a telescope in it. He extended the telescope and looked through it at the fireball which was once a fort. The Dragon gritted his teeth.

"Get some men over there right now!" he shouted.

"If there are any survivors bring them to me. The same goes for horses. The rest of you get to finding who did this. Nobody messes with The One Eyed Dragon and gets away with it!"

All the men around him didn't hesitate to follow his commands. The Dragon kept his eye on the fort.

 _'I'm going to kill whoever did this.'_

* * *

 **Well, well, that was quite eventful, in a way. I hope you're as excited about the next chapter as I am.**

 **See you then.**


	12. The Dragon and The Demon

**Hey guys, how's it going. I'm back.**

 **Now listen, you're probably used to hearing this but still, I'm sorry if this took too long. I tried to get it out as soon as possible whilst juggling it with my life. In my defense, this chapter is roughly twice the length of most of the previous chapters. Also I call Masamune's blue jacket thing a jacket just because it doesn't exactly look lie a kimono or something like that.**

 **So anyway, enjoy**

* * *

"Here we are." It was early morning and Tazuna had brought Team Jiraiya to a house outside of the town in the Land of Waves. It was a plain two-story building with a small jetty at the back.

"Suzu, I'm back," he called as they entered.

"And I brought some company."

The door led into the kitchen which contained a wooden table and chairs. To the left there was a door which led into what seemed to be either a living room or bedroom. It was hard to tell. Between the room and the door there was also a set of stairs.

A little girl, no more than five or six with long blue-coloured hair, came running down the stairs and leapt at Tazuna.

"Daddy!" She yelled. Tazuna picked her up and span her round, drawing a happy scream from her.

"Ah, here's my little girl," he said. The girl then turned to the team of Shinobi at the door.

"Who are they Daddy?" she asked, pointing a finger.

"Tsunami, these are Ninja from the Hidden Leaf Village, They came a very long way to help beat those mean guys up on the hill," Tazuna answered. Except for Hiashi, Team Jiraiya smiled smiled at Tsunami. She smiled back, but then turned to Tazuna with a confused look.

"But Daddy, why do we need their help? You could easily beat those meanies." Kawarama and Jiraiya's smiles disappeared, while Minato's turned sheepish. Despite the fact it was typical for a six-year-old girl to see her father in such a light, it still irked to be so easily dismissed.

"Oh thanks for thinking that, but trust me when I say these guys are strong, ok?" Tazuna assured.

"And you haven't even seen what we're capable of," said Kawarama.

"No, I haven't," Tazuna chuckled. He turned back to Tsunami.

"Tsunami, where's your mother?"

"She said she was going to get some kitchen stuff. She also said she'd be back soon," the little girl replied with a big smile on her face.

"Well until she comes back why don't you four make yourselves at home." The three teens happily complied and went to sit at the table. Jiraiya merely went to lean on the wall by the door.

"Hey mister..." said Tsunami, drawing Kawarama's attention.

"Daddy said you're from a hidden leaf village."

"Yes that's right: The Village Hidden in the Leaves," Kawarama replied.

"Does that mean you use leaves to hide?" Kawarama cocked his eyebrow.

"Um...no."

"Do you use them to fight?"

"Also, no."

"Then why is it called the _Hidden Leaf_ Village?" Kawarama put a hand to his chin.

"I think it's because of the dense foliage surrounding the village," Tsunami looked confused.

"Lot's of trees," Kawarama corrected, nearly forgetting that he was talking to a six-year-old.

"Ooooh, ok," Tsunami said, a smile returning to her face. She then caught site of Kawauso, sitting on Kawarama's shoulder.

"Kitty!" she cried and ran to grab him. Kawauso gave an alarmed squeak before leaping off Kawarama's shoulder. He proceeded to be chased around the house by Tsunami. Kawarama attempted to explain Kawauso's actual species, but to no avail. Tsunami continued to chase Kawauso for the next hour or so.

It was not long before there was a knock at the door, which opened to reveal a woman, roughly the same age as Tazuna. Jiraiya was quick to greet her.

"Why hello there miss, allow me to-" He was swiftly interrupted by a frying pan which collided with his face, making him look like a character in a slapstick comedy. The woman then pulled the frying pan back, ready to strike any stranger who might have been waiting for her. It took the woman a second to take in her surroundings. Her eyes fell on the those sitting at the table.

"Hello Suzu, what have you got there?" asked Tazuna, gesturing to the frying pan and bag she held in her hands.

"Oh just some kitchen stuff," she replied, her eyes cautiously fixed on the the three headband-wearing teens sitting at her table.

"Told ya'!" blurted Tsunami.

"Um, Tazuna who are these people?" her eyes drifting to the unconscious Jiraiya collapsed against the wall.

"Well, you see Suzu, these are Ninja, from the Hidden Leaf Village," Suzu's eyes then fell to the floor.

"Oh, well that certainly is...interesting," she said.

"Yes, it is very interesting," came a voice. Suzu stepped to the side to reveal the man with the trench coat. There were two blades strapped to the right side of his belt. Those seated at the table, besides Tsunami, tensed. Kawauso growled at the newcomer.

"And what, may I ask, would Ninja be doing in such a location as this? Perhaps to burn down a fort? Or maybe to kill a certain man?" The whole time his eyes were fixed on Kawarama. He took a few steps forward.

"My name is Kojuro, I am also known as the One Eyed Dragon's right eye, and you, fit the description perfectly."

"What description would that be?" Kawarama asked, hesitantly.

"One that was given by a survivor of the fort attack. He said he got pretty close to you." Kawarama's mind flashed back to when he knocked out the bandit but could not bring himself to kill him. Kawarama cursed himself for that.

"However, I did not expect you to be so young. It almost makes me wish Lord Masamune was not in such a state about this."

At the mention of Masamune the previously unconscious Jiraiya woke up, wide eyed. Kojuro sighed.

"But, I am a loyal retainer of Lord Masamune and will follow him to the end, so I come here to give you a message. Lord Masamune wishes to fight you in a duel, due to you being the cause of the destruction of his fort. Tomorrow, noon, the centre of the town." He made to leave the house.

"I suggest you spend that time either training, or praying to whatever gods you follow," he said, glancing back.

As soon as Kojuro was out of ear shot Jiraiya put his head in one of his hands.

"Well this just got a whole load of confusing," he said.

"What do you mean sensei?" Minato asked.

"I mean it can't be true. It's got to be a faker, someone using his name to gain influence, or something of the sort." Jiraiya continued to babble without taking notice of the others in the room.

"Sensei!" Kawarama said, sternly. Jiraiya turned to him.

"What's wrong?" he asked. There didn't appear to be any kind of concern in his voice. Jiraiya paused for a moment.

"The name Masamune, and One Eyed Dragon. I remember reading about the owner of those names in an old text book. He lived over a hundred years ago, in the warring states era." Everyone stared at him with wide eyes.

"But that doesn't make any sense. That would mean he died years ago," said Hiashi.

"Before even _Sarutobi-sensei_ was born," added Jiraiya.

"But if that's the case, then who is they guy in charge of all these bandits?" asked Kawarama.

"He has to be a fake, Someone using his name, pretending to be him. That's the only explanation. No-one has ever lived even close to how old he'd have to be, and to still be fitting fit, it's just impossible."

There was a long silence. Then Kawarama stood up and made for the door.

"And where the hell do you think you're going?" asked Jiraiya.

"To train of course," said Kawarama, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Which to be fair may very well have been the case, depending on your perspective.

"Did you not listen to anything I just said. This guy may be a fraud but there is a reason that people believe him. We have no idea how strong this guy is." Kawauso hopped onto Kawarama's shoulder, who gave him a scratch behind the ear.

"I'll think of something," Kawarama said with a smirk. He then headed out the door.

* * *

A few hours later, Kawarama could be found lying on the beach on the other side of the island. He had gone as far for some 'peace and quite' however his few hours of training had not afforded him the luxury. At least up until now. He was taking massive gulps of air every few seconds. The reason for his exhaustion was evident in the highly damaged trees inland from the beach. They were littered with drill-like gouges. Some very deep, some barely scratching the surface of the tree. Kawauso was currently lying in the shade of one of these lesser, damaged trees.

Kawarama lay on the ground for some time, even after he had regained his breath. His little moment of bliss was interrupted when he sensed a large group of chakra signatures nearby. He leapt to his feet and happened to notice that the people the chakra signatures belonged to were a lot closer than he thought. He came face-to-face with a large group of scruffy looking men, all dressed in plate armour.

At the head of this group was a large man. He had silver hair and a purple cloth over his left eye which served as an eyepatch. He wore a purple jacket over his shoulders and purple, bordering on pink, trousers. These were in fact his only clothes, as the only thing covering his well-toned torso were two leather straps. His left hand he kept in his pocket, while the other held a large object over his shoulder. This object is what caught Kawarama's attention. Was it an anchor or a spear? It was difficult to tell. It certainly looked like an anchor, what with the chain attached to it. The best way to describe it would probably be an anchor-tipped spear...or maybe a spear-staffed anchor. I'm sure you get the picture. He also had a smirk on his face.

"Well, well mateys. What do we have here?" Kawarama leapt back and drew his ninjato.

"Who are you? You're with The Dragon aren't you?" The leader's smirk disappeared and was replaced with a cocked eyebrow.

"The Dragon? You don't mean The One Eyed Dragon do you?"

"Don't play dumb, you guys are some of his goons, or whatever." The leader chuckled.

"Well, this sure is an interesting state of events. That slimy serpent and his biker gang are on this island? Heh, small world," he said. Kawarama looked at him curiously.

"Wait, so you're not with the bandits?" The entire group of men burst into hysterics.

"Whahahat? Do we really look like bandits to you, brat. We're pirates!" the leader said, with with obvious pride.

"Oh, how could I've gotten confused," Kawarama muttered, sarcastically. The leader continued speaking unaware of his remark.

"And I'm the captain. Motochika's the name, though some know me as, The Demon of the West Seas." Kawarama raised an eyebrow.

"Um...I don't mean to be pedantic or anything but, I'm pretty sure pirates are supposed to be sea-going men. On top of that, I don't see a ship anywhere." Motochika scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Well ya' see, the thing is...our ship kind of got...destroyed, in a storm. Say, you wouldn't happen to know if there is a town around here where we might be able to...acquire a new ship?"

"That all depends really. Will you have a sudden hunger for slaughter and plundering?"

Motochika gave Kawarama a horrified look.

"Are you suggesting that we would kill innocent people?" Kawarama sweatdropped.

"Well yeah, that's kind of what pirates do."

"People who kill innocents are scum, they've never done anything to deserve death, that's why they're called innocent." Kawarama pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Pirates with morals. I never thought I'd see the day."

"Whether you believe it or not doesn't really matter. We're pirates who crave adventure. We lost our ship and are trying to find a new one. And now I hear an old friend is nearby." Motochika smirked.

"I'd very much like to pay him a visit."

Kawarama blinked.

"So you're not with The Dragon."

"Hahahah, not at all. Masamune and I are more like...competitors I guess you could say." Kawarama thought for a moment.

"So...you want to fight him?"

"It sure would make my day," Motochika said with a wry smile.

"Then I think I have a plan as to how we could beat him."

"Whoa, now hold on a sec, brat. We don't even know who you are. How are we suppose to trust you."

"Oh, well my name is Kawarama Senju." At this point Kawauso, who had only just woken up, ran to Kawarama's feet and growled at Motochika.

"This here is Kawauso. He's a close friend." Motochika looked at the two of them thoughtfully.

"Senju huh? That's a name I haven't heard in a while," said Motochika, glancing at the damaged trees.

"So that means you're a Shinobi, Just like that Sasuke fella," Kawarama gave him a questioning look.

"Who?"

"Never mind. Alright kid let's hear this plan of yours."

* * *

It was dark. Kawarama was standing in the forest. In front of him stood the Cloud Shinobi whose face had been plaguing his thoughts ever since that night Kushina was kidnapped. The Cloud Shinobi's face was one of pure horror. He stood a few metres away from Kawarama. Kawarama's ninjato was embedded in his chest. The Shinobi took a step forward. Kawarama immediately began to panic. He tried to turn and run, but his feet would not move. The Shinobi took another step and stretched out his arm towards Kawarama. Kawarama began to pull at his feet, attempting to free them from what ever may be holding them in place.

"Kawa...rama," the Shinobi droned as he took a few more steps forward. Kawarama drew a kunai and threw it at him. However, the kunai passed right through him.

"Kawa...rama." Kawarama went back to trying to pry his feet from the ground.

"Kawarama!" The tone of the Shinobi's voice suddenly changed. It was less like that of a zombie, filled with more...life. Kawarama looked up the Shinobi was standing directly in front of him. The Shinobi grabbed hold of his shoulders.

"Kawarama!" he yelled.

Kawarama woke with a start. He shot bolt upright from lying on his futon. He was breathing heavily and there was sweat all over his body.

"Kawarama." His eyes shot to his left. Minato was sitting next to him, a look of concern was on his face. Kawauso was also sitting next to him.

"I knew you weren't ok," Minato said.

"What do you mean?"

"You're still haunted by images of those Cloud Shinobi you killed, aren't you?" Kawarama averted his gaze.

"Your first kill is always the most difficult to live with kid, remember that." They looked to the other side of the room, where Jiraiya was leaning against the wall, a grim expression on his face.

"I'm going to tell you now, never forget those you kill, because they sure as hell aren't going to forget you. And also never forget that they are people, just like you. People who fight for a reason, be it duty or personal desire. They are human. If you ever forget that, you will be nothing more than a monster. Do you understand?" Kawarama gave a hesitant nod.

"Forgive me Jiraiya-sensei. Despite the fact that I agree with your advice, do you not think that topic a little heavy for a 'kid'?" Hiashi asked. Jiraiya gave a slight shrug.

"You guys are going to have to find out sooner or later."

"Why are you guys all awake anyway?" asked Kawarama.

"You were crying out in your sleep," Minato replied.

"We've been trying to wake you up for the past ten minutes."

"Well, I'm ok now. It won't happen again, so we should all probably get some sleep." Kawauso put a paw on Kawarama's leg and gave a concerned squeak.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Kawarama said, patting Kawauso on the head. With that, they all went back to sleep.

* * *

The next morning went fairly simply. The four Shinobi got up ate and then trained until noon.

Then Tazuna brought them to the town centre, but not before Suzu and Tsunami wished them luck. The town centre wasn't particularly special. It was a large open space but with lots of stalls running around the edge.

 _'it must be a very busy market during the day,'_ Kawarama thought. When Kawarama thought about it, he hadn't actually been here yet. This was his first time seeing the town up close. It seemed very well off. There didn't appear to be many signs of poverty and the buildings were in very good condition. It most likely had something to do with their location; they were in the near perfect spot to be the centre of a major trading route.

As they stood there looking around them droplets of water fell on their faces.

"Rain, that's just what we need," said Jiraiya irritably. Kawarama smirked.

"Yeah, it's _exactly_ what we need." He looked to the other side of the town centre. There stood Masamune, his arms folded, a smirk on his face. Behind him stood Kojuro and their entire band of men.

"Kawauso, you stay here with Minato," said Kawarama, his never leaving Masamune. Kawauso gave a squeak in objection.

"I know you can handle yourself. But this guy is strong, I don't want to risk you getting hurt." Kawauso remained still for a moment. Kawarama turned to him.

"I'll be fine," he said, a reassuring smile on his face. Kawauso hesitantly leaped onto Minato's shoulder.

Masamune and Kawarama walked to the centre of the market.

"What's with all those guys?" asked Kawarama, gesturing to the crowd behind Masamune.

"Nothin' much has been happening recently, so the guys came to see the show. I'm worried it might not be very long though." Kawarama made no response to the obvious insult.

"And besides, it's not like I'm the only one with onlookers," said Masamune, gesturing to those behind Kawarama. Kawarama shrugged.

"It's not like I asked them to come along, but then again I didn't stop them either."

The rain began to fall heavily now, but neither combatants seemed fazed by it. They simply stood, waiting to see who would make the first move.

"I have a proposition, if you don't mind me saying," said Masamune, breaking the silence. Kawarama made no reply, so Masamune continued.

"I see you've got a blade there. How about we see who's the better swordsmen? But I'm told you're also a Ninja, so I won't deny the use of Jutsu. How about we limit it to two, eh?" Kawarama frowned at him.

"That seems heavily one-sided, don't you think?"

"Look at it this way, you beat me under these conditions and me and my men will leave. However if you cheat and use more than one Jutsu..." Masamune purposely paused, for effect. Kawarama simply rolled his eyes.

"Then I can't guarantee the safety of the town's people." Anger filled Kawarama's mind.

"You bastard!" Masamune smirked.

"So, do you agree to the terms?" Kawarama gritted his teeth.

"Yeah, fine, whatever." He then drew his ninjato and slipped into a combat stance. Masamune shrugged, drew a single sword from his set and likewise slipped into a stance.

For a moment, everything was still, the rain couldn't be heard hitting the ground, Neither could the heavy heart beats of all the observers, save one.

"This certainly is an interesting plan of yours, brat."

Then Kawarama and Masamune suddenly dashed towards each other, their blades clashing. They both leapt back after their initial clash. Then they charged at each other again. Masamune went to stab Kawarama, but this strike was deflected and Kawarama made to swipe Masamune's head from his shoulders. Masamune ducked and span round, his blade outstretched, attempting to cleave Kawarama in-two. Kawarama bent his body and narrowly missed the blade. He flipped back and further out of striking distance.

Masamune stood up straight.

"I gotta' say, your not half bad kid."

"Neither are you," Kawarama replied, a smile on his face.

"But if you're going to only use one sword then what's the point of carrying the rest?" This time Masamune smirked.

"If I brought out my claws then this fight would have ended on first contact. I want to give my men a better show than that." Kawarama's eyebrows furrowed. He dashed at Masamune, who effortlessly disarmed him, sending his ninjato spinning into the air. Kawarama scowled and leapt back. He threw a number of shuriken from his holsters at Masamune which he easily deflected. Kawarama darted towards him. Masamune went to strike him. However all his blade hit was the ground as Kawarama blurred and disappeared. He then reappeared above Masamune, catching his ninjato as it descended. Unable to turn in time, Masamune's eyes went wide as Kawarama sliced into his back.

However Kawarama's went wide when Masamune leapt away from him, seemingly unharmed. The leaf shinobi, who Masamune was now facing away from, were able to get a good look at the inflicted damage, or the lack of it. All there was to be seen was a gash in the back of his blue jacket. When they looked closely they could see metal plating beneath.

"Well that explains why he's not hurt," said Jiraiya.

"It looks like it'll take more than Kawarama's sword to pierce that armour," added Tazuna.

"I tell ya', I'm getting more surprised by the minute," said Masamune, his expression one of mild annoyance.

"I never expected you to lay a scratch on me, let alone get me like that. I guess it's a good thing I keep the extra protection." Kawarama remained silent. Masamune's expression turned into a smirk.

"Alright kid, I'll step up my game, you've earned that much." Masamune then drew another sword. Kawarama raised an eyebrow.

"If the maximum swords you can use is two, then why do you carry six?" Masamune chuckled.

"Trust me kid, if I pulled out the claws, this fight would last more than a second, two at most." Kawarama frowned.

"But don't think two swords is anything to laugh at," said Masamune.

"And besides, you know how the saying goes. You scratch my back...I scratch yours." Masamune then dashed towards Kawarama. He moved so fast Kawarama only had time to put up his ninjato to block. Masamune's attacks came like lightning. Kawarama was finding it difficult to keep up and was being forced to take many steps back.

The unrelenting attacks suddenly stopped as Masamune locked Kawarama's ninjato with one of his own swords. However instead of striking Kawarama with his other sword, his shin connected sharply with Kawarama's side, sending him flying into one of the market stalls.

"Ow," Kawarama muttered. Masamune suddenly appeared standing above Kawarama, a sword raised. Kawarama moved as if at the speed of light. As he stood up he sliced Masamune's legs. This caused him to fall to his knees in pain. Kawarama then leapt over Masamune. Everything suddenly moved in slow motion. All eyes became fixed on Kawarama's hand as droplets of rain began to move towards it. The droplets then span around his forearm, forming a point in front of his finger tips. It looked like a drill made of water had formed around his forearm.

All eyes went wide when, as Kawarama landed behind Masamune, thrust the water drill in between his shoulder blades, going through and bursting out of his chest.

Kawarama then pulled his arm from Masamune's chest and the water around his hand fell to the ground. He was breathing very heavily. Masamune's body was stuck in a kneeling position, his eyes overshadowed by his helmet. Kawarama chuckled.

"So much for 'nothing to laugh at', eh One Eyed Dragon?"

"I wouldn't go that far," came a voice from behind him which filled him with dread. Kawarama whirled around, ninjato raised, ready to block any oncoming attack. His eyes went wide when Masamune's sword cut straight through his ninjato and proceeded to cut diagonally into his chest. All Kawarama was able to utter was a choked cough with the addition of blood. Masamune then raised his katana.

"Kawarama!" yelled Minato.

"RAMMING SPEED!" Masamune jumped away just in time for Motochika to crash into the ground riding his anchor-spear. The 'Masamune' who Kawarama had hit dissolved into water.

Masamune looked on, wide-eyed as Motochika prised his spear from the ground and heaved it onto his shoulder. Motochika glanced behind him at the unconscious Kawarama lying on the floor, a lot of blood staining his clothes. He then looked to the frozen stiff Leaf ninja.

"Get him outta here now. He'll die soon if he's not treated." It took Jiraiya a moment to come out of his shock.

"Minato, Hiashi, you and Tazuna take Kawarama and get him treatment, NOW!" he commanded. Minato and Hiashi quickly complied. They ran to Kawarama and carefully lifted him up and carried him off with Tazuna. Kawauso ran along the ground beside them.

Jiraiya then went to stand next to Motochika.

"That's a pretty rotten thing to do a kid Masamune," Motochika scowled. Masamune looked at him blankly.

"I told him that I'd restrict it to one Jutsu. That didn't mean I couldn't use one myself."

"That's not exactly a very good excuse," Motochika replied.

"Well anyway, It's funny seeing you here, now, Motochika. Why are you here?" asked Masamune.

"I'm here because of the same reason as you."

"Is that so?" Masamune said with a curious look. Jiraiya could tell by the tone of their voices that there was a hidden meaning to this conversation.

"I don't know who you are, but you protected my student, so I'm thankful," he spoke. Motochika chuckled.

"Don't mention it. I quite like the kid. He's got spirit. So, you up for a little brawl?"

"Sure, if you think we can take them," said Jiraiya, cracking his knuckles. Motochika grinned.

"Oh, I think we can." He then whistled. All at once men poured forth from the backstreets and appeared on rooftops, surrounding Masamune and his men.

Masamune smirked.

"This just got a whole lot more interesting." He then sheathed both his swords, before drawing all six. Each one held between his fingers.

"Alright boys! Let's show these landlubbers just what it means to cross The Demon of the West Seas and his crew!" There was a resounding cheer before they all charged, Motochika and Jiraiya in the lead.

The rain that fell washed away a lot of blood that day.

* * *

 **And that's a rap. So what did you guys think? I added in yet another couple of characters from Sengoku Basara. It was just going to be Masamune, but then I thought: "Fuck it, I might as well" and added my second favorite character. Oh and Kojuro.**

 **I've gotta tell you sometimes Kawauso can be a pain. Especially when I keep forgetting to write him in, but the thing is I don't want to get rid of him. At least not yet.**

 **If you say nothing as before I will simply assume that either you've stopped reading and were kind enough to exert your hate elsewhere, or you are fine with how the story is going and thin I should just keep up the good work. Either way, thanks for the support :). Oh and thanks to you who have commented, it's always nice to receive a bit of support.**

 **Any-hoo stay tuned for the next installment of The Tale of Kawarama Senju (which will hopefully be on it's way soon).**


	13. The Aftermath

**Hey everybody, welcome back and I hope you enjoy this new chapter**

* * *

Kawarama awoke with a start, shot bolt upright and then fell straight back down after feeling a sharp pain in his chest. Once the pain subsided Kawarama noticed that his entire upper torso was covered in bandages. He looked at his surroundings. He was back in Tazuna's house, and judging by the light coming through the window he guessed it was in the late morning. He decided there didn't seem to be much point in just sitting around, so he got up and, painfully and with much effort, put his clothes on. He left the mesh-shirt off because it had a large cut in it, rendering it practically useless.

When he opened the door that lead to the kitchen it was like he was looking at a 3D picture. All those who were in front of him had frozen in what ever actions they were doing. Minato and Hiashi as well as Tsunami appeared to be having some sort of discussion, as did Tazuna and Jiraiya. Suzu was midway through cooking either an early lunch or a late breakfast; he couldn't quite tell. And then Motochika was evidently having a swig from a flask that most likely contained...wait, Motochika!? What was he doing there.

His thoughts were quickly interrupted, as he got a face full of fur. This sudden impact caused a chain of events: Kawarama fell backwards and landed flat on the ground, a bolt of pain shooting through his chest. Minato and Tsunami rushed to pry Kawauso off of Kawarama's face. Suzu moved to see if Kawarama was ok, however she somehow managed to knock the food she had been preparing into the air. The food swiftly found Jiraiya's face and caused him to collapse to the ground and begin flailing about. Motochika, for his part, was laughing his head off at the whole thing, while Hiashi sat next to him in silence.

When Minato and Tsunami finally managed to remove Kawauso from Kawarama's face they launched a barrage of questions.

"Kawarama are you alright?"

"Is your wound alright?"

"How do you feel?"

"Does your head hurt?"

"Is there any way we can help?"

Kawarama held up a hand to silence them. He looked at them and smiled.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What happened anyway?" he asked.

"You were in a fight with Masamune, and you got hit pretty bad. You almost died kid," said Motochika.

"So what happened after I fell unconscious?" Kawarama asked as he got up and took a seat at the table. Minato and Tsunami sat alongside him.

"Not much really. Me and the boys, as well as your sensei over there, fought with Masamune and his men. It didn't take that long to beat 'em all back."

"If you mean that it took us a whole two hours fighting that guy before he signalled a retreat due to losing too many men then yeah, it didn't take that long," said Jiraiya. There were a number of large red marks on his face. Suzu immediately apologised.

"Eh, happens to me all the time," he said, a sheepish grin on his face.

Motochika leaned forward in his chair.

"Anyway, I've talked to some of the villagers. This is quite a nice place. We even agreed that in exchange for us protecting them form any future danger we'd be able to use this island as as 'base of operations'," he said. Kawarama's jaw dropped.

"Really? They did? How long have I been out?" he asked. The last question was more to himself.

"Three days," said Hiashi, bluntly. Kawarama went bug-eyed.

"Three days! I've been unconscious for three whole days!?"

"Well to be honest, I quite surprised you're still alive. That wound you received almost cut straight through your ribcage. You're lucky your sword slightly slowed Masamune's strike," said Motochika, his face expressionless.

"Oh and that reminds me," mentioned Tazuna. "Sorry kid but we couldn't fix your sword, it was just too banged up." He then produced Kawarama's ninjato, or rather pieces of it, and placed them on the table.

"Tch, it's all my fault really. If I had actually inspected the quality of that weapon then you wouldn't have received that injury," said Jiraiya, clenching his fists.

"To think that a shinobi shop had this thing to be sold. It's a disgrace, if you ask me. Tell you what kid, when we get back, I'm gonna have one made for you, and it'll be the best quality out there," he declared. Kawarama smiled at him.

"Thanks sensei."

"Wait, how did Masamune get off the island?" Kawarama asked.

"Y'know I'm not sure, he just vanished, not literally of course but it certainly seemed like he did," Motochika replied.

There was a short silence.

"So what happens now?" Kawarama asked. Jiraiya put a hand to his chin, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Well, seeing that you're up and about means that you are well enough to move around. You'll have to keep the bandages on for a little while longer, just in case, but we should be able to head out today," he said. Kawarama got up and went to pack his things.

"Uh, before you go off, would you mind answering something for me?" asked Jiraiya. Kawarama stopped and faced him.

"Sure, what?" he asked.

"What was that weird Jutsu you used against Masamune? I've certainly never seen that before." Kawarama blinked. "Oh that, it was just something I've been working for the last few months. I'd say it went pretty well for its first field test," he said, brimming with confidence.

"That's all well and good, but what exactly was it?" Jiraiya asked.

"Well, it's simple really: I expel chakra from my arm and use it to pull in any nearby water. I then spin the water around my arm, converging it into at point just in front of my fingertips."

"How are you able to do that at your age?" Jiraiya asked, with wide eyes.

"I wouldn't be able to do it without any water nearby. It's also easier for me because of my water affinity." Jiraiya cocked an eyebrow.

"Wait, I haven't even tested your affinities yet, how did you...?"

"My dad."

"Of course," Jiraiya groaned.

"You should call it: The Super-High-Powered-Eternal-Spinning-Arm drill." All eyes turned to Minato, who had a hand to his chin and a pensive look on his face.

"I don't think that's a good idea," said Hiashi.

"Hm, now that I think about it, I never did come up with a name for the Jutsu," said Kawarama. He then shrugged.

"Oh well, I'll think of one later." He then went to pack his things. Jiraiya gestured for Hiashi and Minato to do the same.

All packed and ready to go, the team goodbye to Suzu and Tsunami.

"Come back soon, ok?" said Tsunami, a large grin on her face. Kawarama knelt down and patted her head.

"We'll be back before you know it."

"Take care of yourselves," said Suzu.

"We will," replied Minato. They were then led out by Tazuna, followed by Motochika.

As they walked through the centre of town, which had since been repaired from the skirmish, Tazuna spoke up.

"Before you four go, there is something I'd like to show you." He stopped next to a large veiled object in the centre of the square.

"On behalf of the town, I'd like to thank you for protecting our town from those bandits. This here is a token of our appreciation." He then pulled the veil off.

It revealed a large stone statue of Hiashi, Minato and Kawarama standing in a row. A statue of Kawauso sat on Kawarama's shoulders. Behind them stood similar statues of Jiraiya and Motochika. They stood on a stone block which had a plate that read: 'The saviours of our town: Motochika, Jiraiya, Kawarama Senju, Minato Namikaze and Hiashi Hyuga'. Jiraiya looked at Motochika with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey don't look at me, I'm as clueless about this as you guys," he shrugged.

Minato smiled.

 _'Saviours, huh?'_ he thought.

Kawarama, was finding it difficult to contain his excitement.

"This is awesome!" he said. Hiashi turned to Tazuna.

"I am confused. We didn't exactly do anything that would be worth making statues, least of all putting them in the town square."

"You always wanna' ruin things, don't you? Killjoy," said Kawarama. Hiashi glared at him. Tazuna tapped him on the shoulder.

"Sometimes people just need heroes to look up to, kid." Kawarama's eyes widened.

"Did you really say what I think you just said? We're...you mean we..." he was unable to finish his sentence. Tazuna grinned.

"Yep, you guys are heroes."

"Yahoooooo!" Kawarama yelled as he leapt into the air.

After admiring the statue for a bit longer, the group then moved on to the town's port where a boat was already waiting for the Leaf ninja.

"You fella's come back soon alright. Don't be strangers now," said Tazuna. Kawarama smiled at him.

"Like I told Tsunami: we'll be back before you know it," he said. Motochika stepped forward.

"Hey kid, I'm bettin' on you becoming a strong fighter one o'these days. When you come back, I expect a good fight, I'm quite a fan of winning, be it a bet, or a fight," he said with a smirk. Kawarama likewise smirked.

The ship then set off towards the shoreline. When they finally reached the other side they turned back to the Land of Waves and could faintly make out Tazuna and Motochika waving to them. They responded in kind before continuing their journey back to the Hidden Leaf Village.

It was roughly two days before the South Gate finally came into view.

"Come on Kawauso, wouldn't it be great, when Tsunami's older I'm sure she'll be a looker, and besides, she really seemed to like you," said Kawarama, suggestively. Kawauso gave a few aggressive growls and squeaks in response.

"Kawarama, I do not think that it is a good idea for an otter to get together with a grown woman. And besides, she is six. Her opinion of Kawauso may change by the time she is 'older'," said Hiashi.

"Yeah, I don't particularly think it's a good idea either," added Minato, a nervous smile on his face. They both thought it ridiculous that he even bring that idea up, joking or not.

"Honestly, you guys are worse than the rain kids," sighed Jiraiya.

All attention turned to him.

"What do you mean by that Sensei? Did you have a team before us?" asked Kawarama.

"Well, I guess you could say that, though I wouldn't really say they were 'my team'," Jiraiya said.

"How did you end up teaching them?" asked Minato.

"It was towards the end of the war. Tsunade, Orochimaru and myself were in the Land of Rain. We came across these three orphans. One was a spunky, ginger-haired kid named Yahiko, there was also an origami-loving, blue-haired girl named Konan and last but most certainly not least, there was a shy yet compassionate redhead named Nagato. They were nice kids and I decided to teach them Ninjutsu to defend themselves in the chaotic land that they lived in. They were all so eager to learn. I haven't seen them for a good few years," Jiraiya said, nostalgically.

Kawarama looked at him with wide eyes.

"Did you say that Nagato kid had red hair? Doesn't that mean he's an Uzumaki?" Jiraiya looked at him, then put a hand to his chin.

"That's impossible. How could Nagato be a Uzumaki?" he said.

"But you said he had red hair."

"Uzumaki aren't the only ones with red hair, you idiot,"

"But was it the Uzumaki shade?" Jiraiya again put a hand to his chin.

"I-It's still impossible, what would an Uzumaki be doing in the Land of Rain? You know that they are oddly territorial, right? They don't leave the Hidden Whirlpool village unless it's for a mission, or trading, or some other thing. I've never heard of an Uzumaki living outside of their home village." Kawarama stared at him blankly.

"Kushina," he said bluntly.

"Well, that's...she..."

"My Mum," Kawarama continued.

"Th-that's...they're an exception!" Jiraiya blurted. Kawarama shook his head.

"Until you can prove that Nagato isn't an Uzumaki I'm going to consider him as such." Jiraiya, not wanting to be outsmarted by his student, quickly said something without thinking.

"He has the Rinnegan! Ever heard of an Uzumaki having that?!" He then slapped a hand over his mouth, realising his blunder. His students gave him odd looks.

"What's the Rinnegan?" asked Hiashi.

"It's nothing, but you kids didn't hear any of that, understand?" Jiraiya said, seriously. His students quickly nodded in response. Jiraiya sighed.

"Alright, let's report back to Sarutobi-Sensei and then we can all head home."

When they reached the Hokage's office door they found someone waiting outside. He had black shaggy hair and brown eyes, and there was also an x-shaped scar on his chin. He wore a white shirt under a black robe. He watched them as they approached.

"Well Jiraiya, it seems you have finally returned from your mission. I trust it went well," the man said.

"It's nice to see you too Danzo. Yeah the mission was easy as pie, sure it got a little heated at one point, heck Kawarama here almost died," Jiraiya said with a semi-sarcastic tone, pointing a thumb at Kawarama, who glared back at him. Danzo loomed over Kawarama.

"We've no need for weakness in this village. You'd be better off ploughing a field if you can't handle a simple C-Rank mission," Danzo said dismissively. Kawarama shrank under Danzo's gaze. Minato glared at Danzo. Danzo was about to turn on him when Jiraiya appeared in front of him, his eyebrows furrowed and his arms folded.

"I said it got heated didn't I? Talk to one of my students like that again and you'll have me to answer to." Danzo said nothing as Jiraiya walked past him, followed by his students.

"Hey Sarutobi-Sensei, you in here?" Jiraiya asked as he entered the office. Hiruzen was sitting at his desk, rubber stamp bearing the Hokage seal in hand, stacks of paper all around him.

"Oh Jiraiya, you're back, yes come in," he said as he looked up from his work. The team entered and stood in front of his desk.

"I trust the mission was successful?" he asked. Jiraiya smiled.

"Yeah it went well. We ran into a bit of trouble, but we got there in the end."

"Might I advise that Kawarama take a visit to the hospital to check out his injuries."

"Oh, you heard that did you?" Jiraiya said whilst rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"I was not given the title: 'Professor' for nothing."

"Yeah, yeah, I know."

"Hiruzen, I need to speak with you," said Danzo as he entered the room.

"Oh, Danzo, you're still here," said Hiruzen. He had been trying to avoid Danzo for sometime. It seemed the ageing war hawk always had something to complain about.

"What is it this time?" he asked.

"It is to do with a certain upcoming event."

"Oh, is really that time of year already?" asked Jiraiya, understanding what Danzo meant. The Hokage nodded.

"Indeed it is, I was actually going to call the other Jounin-sensei in a few minutes." Jiraiya turned to his team.

"Alright guys, you head home. We just got back from a mission so you can have the next couple of days off." The members of his team nodded before leaving the room.

On his way home, Kawarama stopped off at the hospital, just as the Hokage suggested. The doctors looked over his wound and redid the stitching before applying extra bandages to his upper torso.

"Your injuries are quite serious. You should try to avoid doing anything strenuous over the next couple of weeks," the doctor told him. He was also given some medicine to help ease the pain if it ever re-surfaced.

It was early afternoon when he finally got back to the Senju compound.

"Mum, Dad! I'm home." There was no reply. He dumped his backpack in his room and went around the house looking for his parents. He then heard some noises coming from the garden.

 _'That sounds like a fight,'_ he thought. When he got outside he was a little surprised by what he found. His mother and father appeared to be watching a sparring match between Tsunami and Kushina.

"Um, hey. I'm back," he said, awkwardly. Kushina and Tsunami stopped their brawl while Itama and Kaiyumi turned round to face him. The latter's face lit up with joy as she ran to hug him.

"Kawarama! You're back. How did it go? Are you ok? Did Jiraiya make you drink sake again?" she blurted, seemingly without any regard to what she was actually saying. However she calmed down and stepped back when she noticed Kawarama's slightly pained expression.

"Kawarama? What's wrong?" she asked, looking concerned. Itama walked over, a similar expression his face. Kawarama chuckled, attempting to brush it off. However he could not help but lightly clutch his chest.

"Yeah, I'm fine Mum. Don't worry about it," he said with a slightly forced smile. Kaiyumi frowned

"Take off your shirt," she said bluntly. Kawarama's face went red.

"What?! Why?!" he cried.

"Because I'm your mother and I said so," Kaiyumi replied, sternly. Kawarama hesitantly removed his Kimono shirt and mesh shirt. Kaiyumi gasped when she saw the bandages.

"What happened?!" she exclaimed, her concern turning to being downright worried. Kawarama scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"It was nothing honest. I just messed up in a fight is all." Tsunade stepped forward and grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Listen to me Kawarama. 'Messing up' in a fight when out on a mission can be fatal, so don't ever joke about it, do you understand me?" she said, more than a hint of anger in her voice. Kawarama winced, before nodding. Tsunade sighed.

"Good. Now come on, I'm going to have a look at that wound," she declared.

"The doctors at the hospital already did that," Kawarama said. Tsunade scoffed.

"Those idiots don't know half their way around a scalpel." Tsunade then led Kawarama into the house. Itama, Kaiyumi and Kushina swiftly followed.

Tsunade told Kawarama to lie on his back on his bed. She then placed a glowing hand on his chest.

"What's that?" he asked.

"This is a medical ninjutsu that allows me to inspect the inside of a person's body," she replied. Kawarama stared, transfixed by the green chakra that enclosed Tsunade's hand. Kushina appeared and sat by Kawarama.

"So, how'd this end up happening to ya?"

"Oh, nothing much," Kawarama chuckled.

"I burned down a bandit fort and the leader got pretty pissed." Kushina raised an eyebrow.

"Are you trying to tell me that a bandit got the better of you?"

"Trust me, if you fought him you'd be surprised he wasn't ruling a country. Heck, even Jiraiya-sensei needed help fighting him." Tsunade looked up from her inspection.

"Jiraiya really needed help?"

"Well, apparently. I fell unconscious after I received this so I don't really know much about what happened."

"Well at least you're alright...to an extent," said Kushina as she smiled at him.

"To an extent," Kawarama repeated, a smile also on his face.

"Oh by the way Tsunade, when we went to report on our mission, the Hokage mentioned something about an upcoming event and that he was going to be calling in all the Jounin-sensei," said Kawarama after a moment of silence. Tsunade looked up at him.

"Right, I'll go to him now. In terms of your injury you should be fine as long as you don't do anything strenuous." Kawarama smirked.

"You know, that's exactly what the doctors said at the hospital. I guess they do know their way around a scalpel after all." The red was bright on Tsunade's cheeks as she quickly exited the room. But her thoughts were soon brought back to Kawarama's injury.

 _'I hope he'll be fine in the exams,'_ she thought.

The next morning Kawarama was leaning against a tree in training ground three. Hiashi stood next to him with folded arms, Minato sat cross-legged on the ground.

"Tch, where the hell is Jiraiya-sensei? He goes and tells us to take the next few days off and then calls us here literally the next morning." said Kawarama.

"I'm sure he has a good reason for asking us out here," said Minato.

"That I do," said Jiraiya appearing from round the tree. Kawarama turned to him with an unimpressed look.

"You weren't honestly trying to startle us were you?" Jiraiya looked at him with an annoyed expression.

"You and your stupid sensory ability always seem to ruin the fun," he said.

"What was it you wanted to discuss with us Sensei?" asked Hiashi. A smile returned to Jiraiya's face.

"This." He then handed them each a piece of paper. They looked over the contents.

"Congratulations, you guys are officially taking part in the Chunin Exams."

* * *

 **And so begins: The Chunin Exam Arc of this story.**

 **So far there is only one fight that is set in stone so if you want to see specific fight feel free to say so and I shall consider it. If there are no suggestions...I dunno, I'll probably pull names out of a hat or something. :D**

 **See you next time.**


	14. A Trip Through the Sand

**Hello Everyone...heheheh, sure has been a while hasn't it?**

 **Also I said that Otter sage mode doesn't last as long as toad sage mode. It is just a technicality but I think that I am going to get rid of this feature of Otter sage mode and have it last as long toad sage mode (however long that is).**

* * *

Kawarama headed towards the East Gate of the Hidden Leaf Village, alongside his teammates Minato and Hiashi. They were going to meet up with Jiraiya and the other teams taking part in the Chunin Exams. The upcoming Chunin Exams were being held in the Hidden Sand Village instead of the Hidden Leaf, where they were usually held. Kawarama presumed it was to solidify some sort of alliance or treaty between the two villages. Kawarama now bore two ninjato on his back instead of the usual one. One was almost identical to his previous blade, except for the golden engraving on the Senju clan symbol on the hilt of both the scabbard and blade. Jiraiya had assured Kawarama of the quality of this blade. The other, which Kawarama had been quite surprised to receive. It bore the kanji for otter, had a guard and lacked the ring pommel. The old otter Usoken had been quite insistent that Kawarama take the blade.

"We heard of your ordeal with Masamune, and so we had this made from some of the best metal we have available," he had said. "Usohime can also train you to duel-wield, seeing as she fights with two wakizashi." And so for the last few days before the Chunin Exams Kawarama spent the majority of his time training in Suihimitsu Lake.

As they approached the gate they noticed that teams three, four and five and their sensei were already present. Hitomi and Kushina were the ones to greet them first.

"Hey guys, how are you?" asked Kushina.

"Very good thank you, how about you?" replied Minato.

"We're fine thanks," Kushina replied. The pair smiled at each other.

"So, you guys ready for the Chunin Exams?" asked Hitomi. Hiashi scoffed.

"Do you really need to ask that, why would we be here if we weren't," he said. Hitomi frowned at him. Kawarama, for a second, thought he saw Hiashi flinch. He then disregarded the thought before bumping Hiashi's arm with his elbow.

"I think what he's trying to say is: We're way more than ready for this," said Kawarama. A smile returned to Hitomi's face.

At this point Mizuki decided to join in the conversation. There was a massive smile on his face.

"Good morning guys, I presume we're all ready to go," he beamed. Mizuki Toriyama, the third member of team Tsunade, had dark-silver hair that was flattened against his head and teal coloured eyes. Throughout the time that Kawarama had known Mizuki he had never really ended up talking to the guy much. But Kawarama did notice one thing that was always present in the way Mizuki acted; he was always so happy. Sometimes Kawarama couldn't believe that such a jolly person was a shinobi. He always thought that Mizuki would be better off working behind a till or bar, merrily serving people, giving them his best wishes, and so on.

Hiashi turned to Mizuki with a frown.

"Were you completely oblivious to what we were ta-" Kawarama quickly slapped a hand over Hiashi's mouth and gave Mizuki a reassuring smile.

"You bet we are," he said, giving a thumbs up.

"So who're we waiting on?" asked Jiraiya, who seemingly appeared out of nowhere, causing Hitomi and Kushina to jump.

"Just team two, Shikaku is probably still in bed," answered Tsume, accompanied by a yap from Kuromaru. Jiraiya sighed as he went to stand next to Tsunade and Orochimaru.

"Honestly, if that Kemuri was as smart as he is lazy, I'd be surprised if he wasn't a Nara, " he said.

"I'm sure they'll be along soon," said Sakumo as he went to stand by the Sannin.

"Hey Kawarama, Kushina told us you were going through some training with otters, what's it like?" asked Mikoto as she went to the small group.

"It's actually really cool-" Kawarama began.

"If you like being taught by rats," butted in Fugaku. Kawarama turned to scowl at him.

"Who the hell asked you?" he asked. Kawauso, who was sitting on Kawarama's shoulders, growled at Fugaku.

"No-one did, because no-one had to. I'm allowed to say what ever I want. I'm an Uchiha after all," said Fugaku, a hint of scorn in his voice. Mikoto sighed. Kawarama continued to scowl at Fugaku for a moment, then he stepped back.

"I'd like to hear you try and say that after this," he said before biting his thumb, performing a number of hand seals and then placing his hand on the ground. Sealing formula extended from beneath his hand before there was an eruption of smoke.

When the smoke cleared it revealed Usohime. She had grown quite a bit since Kawarama had first met her, she now stood at about the same height as Jiraiya. She also had two wakizashi strapped to her back. Her arms were folded and her brow was furrowed. Everyone stared in amazement at her, besides the rest of his team, as well as Kushina and Tsunade, who were aware of his ability.

"Impressive Jiraiya, you've already taught your student how to summon," said Orochimaru, who seemed both surprised and, somewhat sinisterly, pleased. Jiraiya chuckled.

"That's the best part, I didn't even teach Kawarama how to summon. He just learnt it on his own," said Jiraiya with pride.

"It certainly is impressive," said Sakumo.

"Woah, I didn't realise you could summon, Kawarama," said Mikoto, bemused as she stared in awe at Usohime. Usohime looked over the assorted Genin in front of her before turning to Kawarama.

"So, what's this all about Kawarama?" she asked. Her expression became softer. Instead of Kawarama, Kawauso responded with a number of annoyed squeaks. Usohime's attention then turned back to the Genin, her expression now full of anger.

"Alright, which one is Fugaku?" she asked, cracking her knuckles. All fingers pointed towards Fugaku, who gave out a slightly audible "meep" as Usohime approached him.

"What was that about rats?" she asked, her tone becoming menacing.

Before the incident could escalate any higher, Jiraiya stepped in between the pair.

"Ok, I think that's enough intimidation for now Usohime," he said, holding up a hand gesturing for her to stop. Usohime did as she was told. She had met Jiraiya before, when Kawarama was showing his team his skill with the Summoning Jutsu, and from what she was told of him by Usoken, she had developed a mild amount of respect for the man. She bowed slightly before vanishing in a cloud of smoke.

Jiraiya then went to Kawarama.

"I see your summoning skills haven't dulled in the past few months. That's quite impressive kid," he said. Kawarama gave a confident grin.

"What did you expect? A hero's got to keeps his skills sharp if he wants to help people," he said.

"Oh that reminds me, here, it's the new book I was telling you about," said Jiraiya as he took a book out from his backpack. He handed it to Kawarama, who took it with excitement printed across his face. A little bit of his excitement disappeared when he saw the book cover.

"'Icha Icha Paradise'?" he said, giving Jiraiya a weird look.

"Yeah, you can read it during your stay in the Hidden Sand while you undergo the Chunin Exams," Jiraiya said with a grin. Kawarama put the book into his bag.

"By the way, you never actually explained what the Chunin Exams are," said Kawarama after a moment.

"Man, you can't even _guess_? You really are troublesome," came a voice.

Kawarama turned round to see team two approaching. Shikaku was walking along with his hands in his pockets, Choza walked next to him with a bag of crisps in his hands, and on the other side of Shikaku, Inoichi strolled along leisurely. Kemuri walked behind them, a lit cigarette in his mouth.

"Oh hey Shikaku, I take it you know what the Chunin Exams are?" Kawarama asked. Shikaku sighed.

"The Chunin Exams are a series of tests designed to show the worth of any candidates that are put forward to become Chunin," he said.

"Well that's the basics of it," said Tsunade. Kushina looked to her sensei.

"What more is there to it than that?" she asked.

"I'm sure the Kazekage will explain it all when and if you get past the second stage of the Exam," Tsunade replied. Kushina pouted at her which drew a chuckle from the Jounin.

"Well, now that we're all here, why don't we start heading towards the Hidden Sand Village?" asked Sakumo. Orochimaru nodded.

"That would be a good idea. It will be at least a day or two before we get there, what with the Genin and all," said the snake summoner.

"Alright then, let's go," said Jiraiya.

The four teams then began their journey towards the the Village Hidden in the Sand.

Kawarama always enjoyed travelling outside the Hidden Leaf. He liked to wander through the trees and feel the calm breeze brush against his face. The forest however, was rarely a quiet place. You would often hear birds chirping and may even see the odd fox or rabbit dash across the path. It was the little things that made Kawarama enjoy walking in such surroundings.

The sun was setting on their first day and they were nearing the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind. The group was having a number of idle conversations about everything from Jutsu and combat strategy to a possible future relationship to be found between Kawauso and Tsunami. At one point, whilst explaining the origins of one such discussion to all those willing to listen and trying to fight off an angry Kawauso, Kawarama noticed Hizumi was slightly falling behind, her eyes focused on the ground in front of her. He didn't like the idea of her feeling left out so he slowed down in order to fall in beside her.

"Hey Hizumi, you feeling alright?" he asked. Hizumi immediately perked up at the sound of his voice.

"Oh Kawarama, yes I'm fine," she said, hastily. Kawauso gave a worried whine.

"Are you sure? You were hanging back here all by yourself, I thought maybe you'd be upset or worried or something."

"No really, I'm fine, these exams are just a bit daunting is all." She clutched her hands together and held them close to her chest. Kawarama chuckled.

"Oh, that's all you're worried about? I thought it was something serious," he said, smiling. Hizumi stared at him almost in shock. How could he treat her fear in such a way. Kawarama, however, wasn't finished.

"In all the time I've known you Hizumi, I have learned that not only are you kind, but you're also strong. If you ask me, you don't have anything to worry about." He then gave her a warm smile. Hizumi was amazed. She had been worrying about these exams from the moment she heard about them, her mind constantly being plagued by questions such as: "What will it involve? Will I be strong enough? What will the others think if I fail?" But in just a few words Kawarama had liberated her of her worries.

When she looked back she remembered that this wasn't the first time Kawarama's words had made here feel more confident. It had been similar with the genin tests. True, he wasn't the only one to try and support her, but by far he had the biggest effect; it was like he had some sort of relaxing or friendly aura, his words always seemed to calm her. She always wondered why he elicited such a reaction from her.

"Thanks, Kawarama," she finally said. "I really appreciate it, I'll be alright now." She smiled at him. Kawauso squeaked and hopped onto her shoulders prompting Hizumi to giggle. Kawarama was about to reply but he bumped into the back of Choza who had halted.

"Hey, Choza, what's the big idea?" he complained. The Akimichi turned to him.

"Sorry, it's just that everyone stopped," he said. Kawarama raised an eyebrow then looked ahead of Choza. What he saw amazed him.

The trees just stopped as if something prevented them from growing any further. Directly in front of the group, where the path lead, was nothing but open desert. If one looked down the border between the desert and forest it would be an almost perfect divide. This was the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind. Somewhere, amongst the rolling sand and scorching sun, was the Village Hidden in the Sand.

Kemuri let out a large puff of smoke. He then turned to the rest of the group.

"Alright, we'll camp just here. There should have been a Sand shinobi here to guide us through the desert, however they don't seem to have shown up, we'll just have to wait until they get here," he said. Tsume frowned.

"Why don't we just go ourselves? If we just go in a straight line and with mine and Kuromaru's nose we should be fine," she said.

"If you wanna try and get across this desert without a guide then be my guest. But you'll be lucky if you ever get Hidden Sand, not to mention the fact that you'd undoubtedly get caught in a sandstorm," said Jiraiya. The confidence that Tsume tried to exert in her declaration was dashed by Jiraiya's dismissive tone.

The group set up camp just off the path. Anticipating this situation, Tsunade had brought along a number of sealing scrolls containing tents, cushions, sleeping bags and the like. Sakumo had done a similar thing for food.

When night fell Kemuri set up a stack of wood and swiftly sent it up in flames with a small fire-style jutsu. The rest of the Genin and their sensei sat around the fire, eating and chatting as if they were having a picnic.

Kawarama went to sit at the edge of the forest and looked out across the desert. He looked over the endless tracks of sand, glowing white from the glow of the moonlight. It looked beautiful.

"Hey Kawarama, what're you doing all the way over here?" He turned back to see Kushina.

"Oh, I dunno, it's just nice to look out over the desert is all," he said turning back to the desert. Kushina sat beside him.

"I guess, but do you not want to sit around the fire with everyone else? I mean even Kawauso is back there," Kushina said.

"Is he really?," Kawarama chuckled. Kushina leaned towards him.

"Yeah and I'd keep an eye on him too. He seems to be getting a little close to her." She said this with a somewhat evil smirk on her face. It didn't help that she extended the 'i' in 'little'. He slightly leaned away from her.

"Why are you saying it like that?" he asked, hesitantly.

"Oh I just thought you'd want to protect your girl is all," Kushina said innocently. However her face contradicted her tone. Kawarama went bright red.

"Wh-wha...I...I don't...w-w-wh-what do you mean 'my girl'?" he stuttered.

Saying Kushina laughed would be an understatement. She fell back on the floor and began to roll around. Kawarama just sat in place, his face as red as a rose.

Kawarama then noticed something in the sand. It was moving towards them extremely fast. So fast that it was kicking up a massive dust cloud. Kawarama's embarrassment vanished and he leapt onto his feet and into a combat stance. He didn't draw his ninjato however. This caused Kushina to stop and look at the speeding object. She too jumped up into a combat stance.

As the object moved closer, Kawarama hoped to get a better look at what it was, but the sand that was being kicked up made it a too difficult to make out.

Just as the object, whatever it was, was about to reach them it stopped just short of the trees. A split second later the sand that had been following it swamped the forest, and them. Kawarama and Kushina held up there arms to protect their eyes from the gritty onslaught.

When the sand finally settled they heard a voice say:

"Hmh, I was expecting the Leaf to send at least some kind of competition." Kawarama's arms dropped and his eyes opened. Standing in front of him was a young woman with short brown hair and brown eyes. There was a smirk on her face. It looked like she was wearing the normal shinobi gear, except for two major differences. Her headband bore an hourglass as opposed the the swirling leaf he was used to. Also her flak vest was a dirty brown colour and had long shoulder guards. He presumed she was from the Hidden Sand.

Before he could say anything he felt the familiar chakra signatures of the Leaf group next to him. He turned to see them all lined up, each in their own stance.

"Heheh, that's more like it." He turned back to look at the sand shinobi. All the sensei seemed to relax when they realised who she was.

"I take you're the one who's gonna lead us through the desert," said Kemuri.

"You assume correctly. The name's Taira, at your service," Taira punctuated this with a mock bow. Tsunade sighed.

"Well, Taira, it's nice to meet you. We'll just go pack up and then we can head off," she said.

"I'd be quick about it if I were you. I saw a sand up north as I was coming here and there's quite a strong southerly wind," said Taira.

"But surely we would miss it if we move at the right pace," said Shibi. Taira turned to him, her hands on her hips.

"Then you clearly have no idea how big the sand storms get in the Land of Wind, do ya' kid?" Shibi seemed to falter at these words.

"There must at least be somewhere along the way that will provide decent cover," said Kawarama.

"That's right, there is. That's where we'll be heading to wait out the storm. So come on, let's go," said Taira.

"Alright. Let's go," said Mizuki, cheerfully.

The group set off towards the Hidden Sand Village.

"Man, I'm so excited. Just think when we get back to the Hidden Leaf, some of us are bound to be Chu-ack!" said as he tripped and fell flat on his face. He quickly sat up and spat out a mouthful of sand.

"Hey, who did that?" he asked frustratedly.

"No-one did, it was down to your own idiocy," said Hiashi, blankly, as he walked past. Kawarama looked to where his feet were and noticed something sticking out of the ground. There was a jagged, slanted rock with a flat top. Upon closer inspection it was in the rough shape of a foot. Kawarama then looked in the direction they were currently walking in. There were a number of similar stones jutting out from the sand in a long line. His eyes fell on Taira, who was walking casually at the front, in the process of stretching out her arms.

 _'So that's how she did it,'_ he thought.

"Come on Kawarama, if you don't hurry up and stop playing in the sand, we're going to leave you behind," said Kushina, a cheeky grin on her face.

"I-I wasn't playing!" he yelled before running back into pace with the rest of the group.

It wasn't long before Kawarama could see the sand storm, rising up like a moving wall from the horizon to his right. It was approaching fast. In the night sky it made it look like the stars were being swallowed up.

"Um, we're gonna get to cover before that thing hits, right?" he asked. Taira turned back to him before looking at the sand storm. She frowned.

"Damn, that thing's moving a lot faster now, the wind must have picked up. We should do likewise and pick up our pace, there's still a little while to go before we get the shelter." She then broke into a run, the Leaf ninja quickly following suit.

It felt like mere seconds before Kawarama felt sand begin to sting his skin. He looked around just in time to see the wall of sand slam into his face. Immediately he threw his arms up to protect his eyes from the sand. At the rare moments when he could just about open his eyes, Kawarama could only make out a few figures near him, but he couldn't tell who they were.

Kawarama was very confused when as quickly as it arrived the sandstorm just seemed to stop. He hesitantly opened his eyes to find a large stone wall in front of him. He looked around to see the rest of his group and Taira crouched on the floor facing the wall, her hands spread on the floor in front of her.

"Alright, we gotta move, follow me!" She then ran off along the wall. Kawarama tried to close to the wall as he followed. They soon reached a small plateau. Taira ran up to the wall and placed her hands on the ground in front of it. Kawarama could feel her push chakra into the ground before an opening appeared in the plateau.

"Inside Now!" she ordered. The Leaf ninja quickly obliged.

When they were all in Taira quickly sealed up the opening. They all took a moment to catch their breath.

"Hey, where are Hitomi and Mikoto?" asked Kushina.

"Shibi and Sakumo-sensei too," added Tsume. Every one froze. Kawarama immediately ran to where the entrance was.

"There still outside! We have to help them!" he yelled. He was instantly pulled back by Taira.

"You are not going out there. If you do you're as good as dead," she said with a scowl. Kawarama looked at her, rage filling his mind.

"Do you expect me to just leave them out there? Even when I'm the only on who can save them?" he shouted. Taira momentarily flinched.

"What the hell makes you think you can save them, huh?" She then felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned round to see Jiraiya, a serious expression on his face.

"Trust me, if there is anyone who can save them, it's him." Taira looked stared into his eyes, then threw up her arms in frustration.

"Fine! But don't blame me if you end up with five dead rather than four." She then opened the entrance. Kawarama told Kawauso to remain in the cave before running out into the sandstorm.

When outside Kawarama focused his chakra and located each member of team three. He then put his hands into a cross seal.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Three clones then appeared and sped off towards each member with Kawarama.

Taira, leant up against the side of the opening, was looking out into sandstorm. Jiraiya stood beside her.

"Are you sure the kid can get them back?" she asked.

"No doubt," Jiraiya said bluntly. Taira sighed.

"You sure have a lot of faith in him." Jiraiya chuckled.

"I don't faith right now, only patience." Taira raised an eyebrow. Jiraiya leant towards her.

"He has sensory abilities." Now both of Taira's eyebrows rose. Then she chuckled.

"Well now. If he gets past the first stage of the exams, this could get quite interesting," she said.

It was about ten minutes before Kawarama appeared out of the mist of sand. Team three walked just behind him. Many members of the group rushed over to see if they were OK.

"Why don't you guys get some rest, surviving a sandstorm is no easy feat," said Taira. Team three muttered their thanks before finding comfortable places to sit down. Taira turned to look out at the storm.

"Besides, I can't see this storm passing anytime soon," she muttered. She then moved to close up the entrance.

"Hey, if you do that we won't have any light," said Kawarama. Taira did nothing but point upwards. There was a rather large hole in the top of the small plateau. Every now and then the wind would blow little wisps of sand into cave. Kawarama hadn't noticed that before. He decided that it was a good idea for him to also get some rest. After all, he had been the one to rush out into the storm and risk his life. He found a comfortable spot where he could lean against the wall of the cave and slowly drifted off to sleep.

Kawarama felt himself being roughly kicked awake. When he opened his eyes he found Taira with an amused expression on her face.

"Come on squirt, we're heading off," she said. Kawarama looked around and could see, faintly in the gloom, all the members of his group getting ready to leave. Curious as to the lack of light, Kawarama looked up at the hole in the cave ceiling. He could see stars. Kawarama, quickly collected his things, and went over to the group. Taira opened the entrance to the cave. What Kawarama saw could only be described as one of the most beautiful things he'd ever seen. The desert was glowing white as if they were walking on pure silver. When he looked up he could see the moon in all its glory, full and bright, the sky laden with uncountable numbers of stars. He was unfortunately interrupted in his admiration by a loud sigh from Taira.

"This is annoying, I was hoping to get you guys to the Sand before sunset, but thanks to that storm it doesn't look like we'll get there 'till just after sunrise." She then shrugged.

"Oh well, what's done is done." She then kicked off straight into a sprint. The Leaf ninja soon followed.

During the journey Kawarama ran up alongside Taira and fell into place beside her. Taira merely gave him a quick glance before returning her eyes forward.

"Hey...Taira? You mind if I ask you something?" Kawarama asked. Taira sighed.

"I guess," she said.

"Could you explain to me that earth style jutsu you used to run really fast?"

"Nope." Kawarama almost tripped and fell flat on his face, but managed to keep his balance.

"Why not!" he yelled at her. Taira chuckled.

"Make it all the way to the third phase of the exams and maybe I'll reconsider." Kawarama beamed at her.

"Really?!"

"Sure." Taira smiled at him.

 _'As if. Why the hell would I teach a shinobi from another village any of my jutsu let alone my rock step,'_ she thought.

After some time Kawarama began to see hints of red in the sky and noticed that the stars were slowly disappearing and it was becoming brighter.

 _'Even after running all night, we still aren't gonna get there any time soon. To think it's taken us an entire day and night just to get here,'_ thought Kawarama.

"Looks like my prediction was just about right," said Taira. Kawarama was just about to question her when his eyes fell on a large rock cliff. When he looked over the cliff face he noticed that directly in front of them, carved into the rock, appeared to be something akin to giant steps. There was also a gap splitting the steps at the centre. As they got closer to the structure Kawarama noticed a number of ninja on each level of the steps. They must have been some sort of fortification.

The group slowed to a walk just before they reached the steps. Taira nodded to one of the guards standing at the entrance to the path through the cliff. She then turned to the Leaf ninja and raised her arms gesturing to the outside fortifications on either side of them.

"Welcome, boys and girls, to the Village Hidden in the Sand."

* * *

 **Well that's it for this chapter. Hopefully I will be able to write the upcoming chapters with much less hindrance from life.**

 **We shall see what happens won't we.**


	15. The First Phase

**'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the village, not a Ninja was stirring, not even a...a...well you get the idea.**

 **Merry Christmas everyone, Happy Holidays and all that, For the special night of Christmas Eve I bring you the start of the Chunin Exams.**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

The Village Hidden in the Sand. It truly was magnificent. A village surrounded entirely by cliffs of rock, save the entrance they had just passed through. The village comprised entirely of stone buildings of varying sizes and a number of wide, straight roads that lead, like spokes on a giant wheel, to the centre where there was a massive pot-like structure emblazoned with the kanji for wind. Kawarama presumed this was similar to the Hokage tower.

Taira began to lead them down the road towards the building. As they walked they drew a number of eyes from passersby. As they would approach a cafe the customers enjoying a cup of tea or coffee fell silent and watched them as they passed, and then returned to chatting amongst one another after they had passed. This uncomfortable aura of silence seemed to follow the group for the majority of their trek through the village.

Soon, to the relief of the Leaf ninja, Taira stopped them and said:

"Alright, this here is where you'll be staying." She gestured to a building three stories in height. Many of the windows were filled with a number of different desert flowers which seemed to brighten up the rather dull, sand-coloured exterior. The entrance merely comprised of a large red, wooden door with the words 'The Sand Hotel' running along a metal frame above it.

 _'Man that's cheesy,'_ Kawarama couldn't help but think.

"Just put all of your possessions in your rooms and then we'll register the Genin for the first phase of the exams," continued Taira. When they entered the hotel there was a very old man standing rather unsteadily behind the counter. There were five keys laid out in front of him and he gave the group a toothless grin as they approached.

"Ah, you must be the ninja from the Leaf Village. Welcome to The Sand Hotel. All your rooms have been prepared please enjoy your stay." He then handed a key to each of the Jounin. As they searched for their rooms the Jounin told the Genin where they'd be going. Tsunade was to supervise the girls in two of the rooms, while the boys would split off into the remaining three.

Kawarama and his team's room was nothing special, there was a bathroom with the addition of a shower and there were four futons laid out on the floor.

"Looks like this hotel spared no expense for weary travellers, seriously, not even a single bed?" groaned Kawarama. Kawauso gave a squeak of agreement.

"Quit complaining and put your stuff down," said Jiraiya, despite a similar thought going through his own mind. They all put their bags next to a futon before heading back downstairs.

"Are you sure that we will not need anything, sensei?" asked Hiashi.

"Trust me, if these exams are anything like the ones I went through then you'll only need yourselves," Jiraiya replied.

When they and the other teams met back up with Taira she once again led them through the village.

They came to a stop outside a very large building, not the same as the hotel, but it couldn't easily be argued that it was different. It looked like it was made of compressed sand, had an abundance of desert flowers and there was a big, red door for an entrance. The only real difference was that this building had an extra floor.

"Alright kiddies, you head inside and get registered, the shinobi in there will tell you what to do afterwards," said Taira. She turned to the Jounin.

"I'm guessing the sensei know they aren't allowed in," she said to them. They all gave a nod in reply. Tsunade smiled at them.

"Good Luck guys," she said

"Good luck in the first phase, everyone," Sakumo added.

"I look forward to seeing who passes," said Orochimaru.

"Knock 'em dead!" shouted Jiraiya, who was then scolded by Tsunade for being so loud.

The teams waved to their sensei before entering the building.

Just inside the door was a long desk with two Sand Shinobi sitting behind it. One was leaning back in his chair with his feet on the table. The other had his arms folded and his head lolled forward, Kawarama could have sworn the guy was snoring. On the table were a number of sheets of paper as well as pens.

 _'They sure do seem to be enjoying themselves,'_ Kawarama thought, sarcastically. When the first Shinobi noticed them he took his feet off the table and leant forward. He looked over them momentarily, before sorting through the sheets of paper.

"Leaf Genin huh?" he said absent mindedly. He then placed two sheets in front of them.

"Sign your names here, and put down your teams as well," he said. They did so.

"Alright, just head up the stairs and turn left. The exam will take place in the third room on the right." Tsume then said:

"I take it's alright for me to bring Kuromaru." The Shinobi eyed Tsume and her canine companion before giving a wave of his hand.

"It shouldn't be a problem," he said. Kawarama was about to ask him about Kawauso but decided not to. He presumed he would receive the same response as Tsume .As the Genin headed up the stairs the Sand Shinobi turned to his dozing companion. Slapped his head. The other Shinobi slowly opened his eyes, merely seeming a little dazed.

"If you're done napping how about you take these to the first proctor. All partaking villages are accounted for. Tell him we can start the first phase." The other Shinobi looked at him wearily before taking the papers and heading towards the stairs.

When the Leaf Genin reached the examination room they found it crowded with people of different ages from many different hidden villages. In the room there were a number of desks arranged in rows with sheets of paper and names written on them. There was also a blackboard on the wall at the front of the room, a clock just above it. To Kawarama it looked just like your everyday classroom.

"Man, some of these guys look kinda freaky," said Hitomi, looking around at the assorted Genin, many of whom were currently giving them the 'evil eye'.

"It is most likely an attempt to look intimidating," said Shibi. "Or perhaps they are actually trying to curse us so that we will receive injury, illness or even death." Kushina bashed him over the head.

"Don't say creepy stuff like that!" she snarled. It suddenly became eerily quiet. All attention now seemed to be on them. Kushina gave an awkward smile and waved.

"Heheh...hi."

Before the unease could escalate any further, a tall woman walked into the room. She had long blonde hair that flowed down her back. She had a skip in her step and a smile on her face. Kawarama supposed she must have been a Jounin, despite her not wearing the typical flak vest. The woman walked to the front of the room and faced them, her hands behind her back.

"Alrighty everyone. Hi there, my name's Ochitsuki and I am the proctor for this stage of the exam," she said, rocking on her feet. Her ocean-blue eyes scanned over the assorted Genin.

"Please find your allocated seats, then I will explain the test." The Genin all moved to find their seats. Only a few of the Genin had actually managed to do so before Ochitsuki slammed her fist on the blackboard.

"SIT DOWN!" All the Genin almost instantaneously moved to their seats, some even managing to cross the entire room. When they looked back at Ochitsuki she was back to rocking on her feet with a smile on her face. Some of the Genin looked at her quizzically.

Paying them no heed, Ochitsuki continued.

"Alrighty then. Now I'll explain what this test is going to involve. Basically, it involves you answering ten questions. nine of them are on the sheet that my colleagues will now pass round." As she said this other Sand shinobi began to put the question sheet face down in front of each of the Genin.

"The tenth question we will come to later. More specifically, at the end of the given time." Now the shinobi each sat on a chair at the end of each row and brought out a clipboard and pen.

"Now, in regards to the nine questions, instead of gaining marks for each correct question, you will start with nine marks and lose one for every incorrect question. Each time you are caught cheating by one of my colleagues here," she gestured to the seated shinobi "you will lose three marks, I take it you can guess what happens if you are caught three times. That's right, you and your team will fail the first phase and thus the entirety of the Chunin Exams," she said, smiling at them.

"EEEEHHHH?!" was the reaction of most of the Genin.

"Well you can't very well continue with even one of your team members gone now can you? Honestly, you guys really need some common sense," Ochitsuki frowned. "Alright boys and girls, you have one hour and a half. Good luck." The Genin turned over their papers and began the test.

"Man, that explanation was way too long and boring," muttered Ochitsuki. "I hate things that take too long."

Kawarama read through the first question of the paper. 'In order to hit target X at a distance of thirty metres and moving at 3mph what would be the necessary speed and trajectory of three shuriken in order for them to hit the targets temple, lower thorax and ankle?" There was also a diagram.

 _'What the hell. How are Genin supposed to know this stuff?'_ he thought. He then looked at the other questions. They were just as hard, if not harder.

 _'Something's off. Why would they make Genin answer questions like these?...Didn't she mention a lot about cheating? I'm pretty sure she never actually said not to cheat. Only about if we get caught cheating. This may just be me being an idiot but maybe we're supposed to cheat in this.'_ He looked around and noticed that the closest of the Leaf Genin to him were Kushina who was sat two places to his right, and Shikaku, who was two to his left in the row in front of him. They were both scribbling away.

Kawarama then had an idea. If the goal was to answer the questions by cheating, then that's exactly what he would do. He turned his head to look at Kawauso on his shoulder. He merely looked into his eyes for a second before Kawauso nodded. He then clambered onto Kawarama's head and looked around the room. A Genin next to Kawarama looked at him and Kawauso strangely before continuing with his paper. Kawauso's eyes quickly fell on Shikaku's paper. Not only was it in a perfect position for him to see it, but he was also a Nara, and if _he_ couldn't get this right then no-one in the room could. Kawauso began quietly chittering as he looked at Shikaku's paper. Kawarama began writing on his own with a smirk on his face.

 _'Ah, that makes sense. Thanks Shikaku.'_

When the test had finished all the papers were collected up. Around roughly a fifth of the teams had failed.

"That test lasted way too long. They should shorten it. A lot," muttered Ochitsuki as she stood before the Genin. Her expression became cold.

"Alright everyone, now that the initial test is over and the papers have been collected in, and of course cheaters have been routed out and dismissed, we shall now move onto the tenth question." Ochitsuki's tone of voice had also become much shallower and eerie. It made Kawarama feel uneasy.

"First things first. There are some things that you all need to know. This last question is more difficult than any of those you have had to answer so far. Because of it's difficulty I will allow any disheartened Genin to leave to try again in the next exams. And if you do leave of course that means your team will also leave."

"Why would we leave now?" asked Tsume, a little cocky. Ochitsuki turned her cold stare to Tsume.

"Because if you fail to answer the tenth question correctly...you will remain Genin for the rest of your lives." The room was silent for a moment.

"WHAAAAAAT?!" The room erupted with the objections of the Genin.

"That's absurd," shouted Mikoto. "You mean if we can't answer one question, we can't become Chunin?!"

"If you don't like it, leave," Ochitsuki said bluntly. Mikoto flinched before sitting down.

There was a long uncomfortable pause. The tension simply kept rising. Kawarama noticed a hand suddenly shoot up.

"I can't take it." The Genin stood up. "Sorry guys." One of the Sand Shinobi stood up as well.

"Participant seven is disqualified. Participants thirty-two and forty-nine are also disqualified." After that Genin quit one after another.

Kawarama eyed Ochitsuki suspiciously for a moment.

 _'Something feels off about this as well. I feel like I would have heard this from someone. Besides, if we fail would we really be preventing from even a field promotion or something?'_ he thought.

When it seemed all those who wished to leave had left Ochitsuki spoke.

"I take it everyone here is prepared to receive the tenth question?" Looking around, Kawarama was relieved to see that all of the Leaf teams still remained, though whether or not that ended up being a good thing had yet to be discovered. A silent pause urged Ochitsuki to continue.

"Alright, then I have only one thing to say to all of you...good luck in the second phase," she said with a wink. The Genin looked at her, dumbstruck. Noticing their confusion Ochitsuki continued.

"The 'tenth question' wasn't a question in the typical sense. It was too see who had the courage to see the mission through to the end. Because out there, when you're on a mission, you can't just turn and run when it looks bad, you'll fail your village if you do and it may even cost you and your comrades dearly in the future," she said, her tone once again becoming serious.

"Anyway, you have passed this phase and so you may return to your accommodation, or you can have a walk around the village. But make sure that tomorrow you head to the village's entrance for 5:00am sharp, and be sure to pack as if you were going on a wee- long mission," said Ochitsuki. The remaining Genin were a little unsure of this, but did as they were told.

* * *

 **Sorry if this chapter wasn't very eventful, I just couldn't think of any different way for the first stage to go. But don't worry, the second phase will be very different from anything you've seen before, I'm sure of it.**

 **Until then have a great Christmas, unless you know you don't celebrate it, in which case have a nice holiday**


	16. The Second Phase

**Hello ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. Welcome back. We have yet another chapter in this epic tale for you. However I must also bring some bad news to your attention. I have recently received a shed load of work and so I am unaware if/when I will have time to write the next chapter. I apologise and hope you enjoy this one.**

* * *

Kawarama woke at just after 4am and quickly got himself ready for the second phase of the Chunin Exams. This particular test would apparently last for about a week, but this didn't mean he could bring a big backpack. Heck, even a small sack may even be too big, since he understood they would be on the move the whole time. Considering he had no idea what else would be involved, he really had no idea what to bring, nor did he feel he could entirely trust the proctors. So he settled for packing as much equipment into two equipment pouches as he could and strapped his shuriken holsters to each of his thighs. He considered that he could always try a sealing scroll, if necessary, but even then he wasn't very good at it.

As he was getting ready his stomach rumbled. Thinking of breakfast he wondered if he could squeeze a few snacks into the pouches. He opted to take as few clothes as possible, deciding that he could cope with not smelling as fresh as a daisy everyday, even if his companions couldn't. Packing finished, he teamed up with the rest of the gang and they all headed for the entrance to the village. Jiraiya-sensei appeared to be absent.

When they arrived at the gate they found the majority of the teams were already there, with one exception. It was no surprise to Kawarama that team three was nowhere to be seen. Whilst talking to other team members a Hidden Sand team caught Kawarama's eye. There was an auburn-haired boy with a stern look on his face leaning against the wall near the entrance. Next to him stood a girl. She definitely stood out from a crowd, her pupil-less brown eyes set as they were in a pale-skinned face, her green hair tied in a bun with two orange bangs which framed her sharp features. The third teammate was wearing a black jacket with a hood pulled up so that Kawarama couldn't see his face. However it seemed like the other two either didn't want to be involved with him or were simply uncomfortable to be around him. He concluded it was probably a combination of the two. Kawauso gave a few squeaks from Kawarama's shoulder.

"Don't you go getting all excited, you're not taking part in this one," Kawarama said. "This is down to Minato, Hiashi and me." Kawauso frowned at him and gave a few aggravated clicks with his tongue.

"Uh uh, no arguing. Now go find Jiraiya-sensei." Kawauso glared at him for a moment, then reluctantly hopped off his shoulder and ran back into the village.

It was another quarter of an hour before all the teams had assembled. Team Three was predictably the last, and when they finally showed up they were accompanied by a stranger; a middle-aged bald man with heavily-lidded eyes and absurdly long eyebrows. He seemed to be having an earnest conversation with Kemuri, although it looked rather one-sided.

"Hello everyone," said the man when he and Team three reached the larger group. "My name is Ebizo, a Jounin of the Hidden Sand Village and the proctor for the second phase of the exam. If you will all follow me." He turned and headed out of the village, veering right and heading south.

They trekked through the desert, mindful of the heat but focused on the task ahead. Ebizo often made random turns, this way and that, telling the group that it was in order to avoid certain natural obstacles such as crevices, quicksand and the like. By the end of their morning-long walk through what seemed to all of them simply barren wasteland they emerged from a steep-sided canyon to be confronted by yet another massive wall of stone which stretched either side of them into the distance. Unlike the roughly assembled one at the Sand village this wall was superbly engineered, set with finely hewn stone, each block six feet square and slotted together – no mortar here, Kawarama noticed – so that a feather could not pass between them. It looked to him like a defensive measure for some kind of massive fort. This impression was bolstered by the fact that it had a number of watchtowers spread out along its length. Each tower was a solid column, without windows from the ground to a crenellated roof. Ebizo led them through a gateway in the wall and up a series of stone steps onto a rampart which ran the length of the wall. On the inside side of the wall there was nothing but yet more endless desert, save a tall tower, standing like a sentinel, some miles in the distance. The wall seemed to surround this tower, stretching either side of where they stood for miles before curving round and enclosing the tower at its middle. It certainly looked like a desolate place, not somewhere you'd want to be stranded. Just then a breeze picked up. Kawarama looked down and saw sand begin to stir at the base of the wall, lapping against it like waves hitting a rocky cliff.

"This is the site of the second phase of the Chunin Exams," Ebizo said, looking at them in turn. "It is known as the Demon Desert." Kawarama turned his gaze from the sand ocean as the old man spoke. "Your objective is to reach tower in the centre before the other teams," Ebizo said.

"Well that doesn't seem like much of a test," snorted Fugaku, earning himself a few annoyed glares. Ebizo simply paused momentarily before continuing.

"However, it will not be as simple as you think," he said, holding up two scrolls. One was white with the kanji for heaven and the other was black with the kanji for earth. The teams looked at him, unsure of what was being asked of them.

"Each team will be given either an earth scroll or a heaven scroll. In order to enter the tower, you will need both scrolls."

"So that means only half of the teams will make it through this stage," Hizashi said to himself, louder than he intended.

"If you're lucky," Ebizo replied. The team members looked perplexed, unsure of themselves.

"Why? Because considering that you will have to cross the hazardous environment behind me you will be lucky to reach the tower at all." Kawarama looked back across the desert and peered into the distance as a column of wind-blown sand momentarily obscured the encircled tower from view. He was trying to think. True, it looked empty and almost peaceful, but even he knew that deserts could be treacherous places. There was no telling what awaited them on that sandy plain.

"Each team will begin from a different part of the wall, " Ebizo said, slowly walking along the line of youngsters, his hands folded behind his back. "You will receive your scroll when you reach your starting point. To allow for the time it takes to get around the wall, the phase will start roughly three hours from now at 9:00am. That sheet on the wall there will tell you where you're going." He gestured to a sheet of paper on the wall of the nearest watchtower to them, which was only a few yards away. On the sheet was a small diagram of the Demon Desert with the positions of the teams around the outside noted in different colours. Each team had an arrow leading from it to a specific part of the wall. Luckily for Kawarama's team they started from this tower. Others would seemingly have to walk for some time to get to their appointed starting position.

"Hey old man, how the hell are we supposed to get here in three hours?!" exclaimed Tsume pointing to a spot on the diagram that was on the opposite side of the wall to where they were. "It's like, 20 kilometres in a straight line, and we won't be going in a straight line!" Ebizo seemingly ignored her, but as if on cue a number of Sand shinobi appeared from nowhere.

"Here is your answer," Ebizo said as the Shinobi all bit their thumbs and went through a series of hand seals before placing their hands on the ground. Jutsu formula spread out from beneath their hands.

"Summoning Jutsu!" they said in unison. There was a large plume of smoke. When it cleared The Genin paled. Standing in front of them were more than a dozen giant vultures.

"Are we...really supposed to...ride those things?" asked Kushina, looking nervously at the huge birds.

"I think I'd rather walk," said Tsume as she backed away from one vulture that had fixed her with a beady stare.

"Have a nice flight," Kawarama laughed, nudging Tsume's shoulder. Tsume glared at him.

"Before you head off, there is an important piece of information that you need to be aware of," said Ebizo. "Do not, under any circumstances, open your scrolls until you have both scrolls and are inside the tower."

"What happens if we open the scrolls?" asked Choza. Ebizo ignored the question.

"Alright, each team will take a vulture and go to their starting point with the summoner. There you will wait until the start of the phase. When the phase starts you will have seven days to get both scrolls and head to the tower," said Ebizo. Each team did as he said, if a little reluctantly.

Kawarama was leaning on the wall's ramparts, his chin resting on his hands. He was looking out over the Demon Desert. Despite what lay out there, it was actually a beautiful landscape. Picturesque. The only problem was the sun. It was basically cooking him alive. After some time he decided to escape the heat and headed into the watchtower where Minato, Hiashi and the Sand shinobi keeping an eye on them until the phase started currently were. Inside the tower there was a stone bench that ran all the way around the room, plus there was a doorway on the other side leading out onto the next section of the wall and like the one Kawarama had just walked through, it did not in fact have a door, but that was fine by Kawarama since it let a cool draft flow through the bare room. The Sand shinobi was leaning on the wall just inside the doorway to Kawarama's left.

"Man, it sure is a lot cooler in here than it is out there," Kawarama said as he slumped onto the bench of sand, next to Hiashi and Minato.

"Well of course it is, this is a desert after all," Hiashi retorted. Kawarama gave an irritable sigh.

"Hiashi, we've been on a team for almost two years now, aren't I allowed to say anything without you adding some snide comment?" he asked. Hiashi kept his eyes on the wall on the opposite side of the room.

"Yes, but this is not one of those situations," he said with a quiet chuckle. Kawarama and Minato looked at him with wide eyes.

"Did...you just...chuckle?" asked Kawarama, bemusedly. Hiashi froze, then pushed his shoulders forward and moved his head down slightly, as if trying to make himself smaller.

"N-no," he said.

"Holy Mary mother God! Hiashi Hyuga just chuckled!" Kawarama's mind was so shocked by this one-in-a-million event that he wasn't able to contemplate who this Mary person was, nor did he immediately realise Hiashi's previous words.

"Why you son of a...!" Kawarama shouted as he pounced on Hiashi. The two began rolling around the floor in a rather undignified manner while Minato tried to stop them.

The Sand shinobi looked at the clock above the door on the other side of the room. It was showing the time as being half past seven. He then looked at the two Genin making utter fools of themselves on the floor in front of him. He gave a long sigh. It was going to be a long wait.

When it was near the time to begin the phase the Sand shinobi told them to wait outside on the wall's walkway. They stood in a line, Minato and Hiashi either side of Kawarama, and waited. Kawarama's mind soon began to ponder. He peered over the edge of the parapet, down onto the backing sand bellow, some two hundred feet below. Then he turned to the Sand shinobi.

"um...by the way, how exactly _are_ we suppose to be getting down?" he asked.

"You'll be handling your own landing strategy," the shinobi said, staring at his watch. Kawarama grimaced.

"Good to know," he said. He was about to ask what exactly the shinobi meant by 'landing strategy' but was denied the opportunity when the shinobi looked up from his watch.

"The phase has started! Go, go, go!" he yelled. Before Kawarama even realised what he was doing he had leapt off the edge of the parapet.

 _'Why did I just do that?'_ he asked himself as he plummeted towards the ground. Luckily Kawarama had an idea of how to get down without breaking his neck...probably. He flipped his body so that his feet were facing the wall. He then pumped chakra into his feet.

 _'This is gonna sting a little,'_ he thought as he planted his feet on the wall and began to skid down it. He managed to slow himself down so that when he reached the bottom he could push off and roll without hurting himself, his momentum carrying him into a sitting position only for him to fall backwards, flat on his back. His head was spinning, but at least he was in one piece. Kawarama looked back up the at the wall and how far he had fallen. "At least I didn't break my neck," he thought. Just then he noticed Hiashi and Minato walking up to him.

"That was quite a way to get down, if ever there was one," Minato laughed.

"Oh yeah, so how did you guys get down?" Kawarama asked, standing up and dusting himself down.

"I used chakra to soften the landing," said Minato.

"I used a new technique called Air Palm to decelerate myself at the last minute," Hiashi said, confidently. Too confidently for Kawarama's liking. He stared at them for a moment. He then held up the heaven scroll that they had been given by the Sand shinobi.

"Oh shut up and let's get going," he said, before turning and running off in the direction of the central tower.

"So do we have a plan?" Minato asked as they ran.

"I was thinking if we find a team, Hiashi should scout out whether or not they have an earth scroll. If they don't, well, then we move on. If they do...that's when things get interesting," Kawarama replied.

"Understood," said Minato.

"I shall keep my eyes open," said Hiashi. Kawarama nodded.

"And I'll keep my senses on alert," he said.

"That will not be necessary." Kawarama frowned at Hiashi.

"Why not?"

"My eyes will be sufficient in tracking down any targets," he replied.

"Oh yeah? Well what's the range on those things?"

"I can see three hundred and sixty degrees in a radius of one hundred metres," Hiashi said, confidently. Kawarama smirked.

"Well my sensory ability range is two hundred metres." Hiashi scowled at him.

"Come on guys," said Minato. "I don't think now is the best time to be fighting."

"Then how do you propose we settle this dispute," said Hiashi. Minato thought for a moment.

"How about we have Kawarama focus on enemies that are at a great distance. Then when we get close to them, Hiashi takes over." Hiashi and Kawarama looked at Minato, then at each other. They both nodded.

"Speaking of which.,I just so happen to sense a team at the edge of my range. Two o'clock. Let's go," Kawarama said. The team altered course and headed straight for the enemy team.

When they were in range of Hiashi's Byakugan he began to direct them to a small ridge roughly twenty metres from the enemy team, who Hiashi had identified as being from the Hidden Rain. Kawarama peered over the ledge to get a look at their opponents. There was one team member of an average build, one that was short and stocky, while the third was rather tall and skinny. They wore large jingasa with the emblem of their village on the front. They also seemed to be carrying long black umbrellas on their backs.

"Man, what I wouldn't give to have one of theirs hats, or their umbrella's.," said Kawarama. "They wouldn't mind me taking one of them right? I mean it's so damn hot out here and they're not even using them."

"I don't believe that's what they're used for," Hiashi replied. Kawarama glared at him.

"So what's the plan?" asked Minato.

"Well, they do not seem particularly strong, judging by their chakra," said Hiashi. "I assume we would be able to overpower them." Kawarama punched his fist into his palm.

"Then why don't we?"

"Because, you idiot, they will most likely have planned for that. Let me think of something." Hiashi turned his gaze back towards the Rain shinobi, Byakugan still active.

Kawarama felt his feet suddenly becoming rather cool. It was refreshing, if a little...odd. He looked down to see what had caused it. He grimaced.

"Um, Hiashi, you made sure to check the area for hazards, right?" he asked.

"Of course I did. Why do you ask?" Hiashi said, his eyes remaining on the Rain shinobi.

"Well you see, the thing is...we are currently sinking in quicksand." Hiashi turned to him. Then looked down at his feet. Without them noticing, they had been ensnared in the natural booby-trap. "Oh," Hiashi said, matter-of-factly.

"Oh indeed," they heard a voice say. They looked up. Standing on the ridge they had used for cover was the Rain team.

"You guys sure got yourself into a fine mess here," the leader said. "Not a very pleasant way to go, suffocated by quicksand. Tell you what, we'll give you a quick and painless death before that happens."

They each threw an umbrella into the air which opened and floated towards them. Kawarama raised an eyebrow at them. The next thing he saw dozens of senbon raining down on him. Time suddenly began to move very slowly for Kawarama. He saw Minato raise his arms to block the senbon from hitting his head. Hiashi tried to move to counter them with gentle-fist, but it would be difficult for him in their current circumstances. He also saw the snickering faces of the Rain shinobi. Kawarama looked back up at the descending senbon.

 _'Man I hope this works,'_ he thought. He clasped his hands together in a lightning fast set of hand seals. Tiger, Snake, Rat, Snake, Tiger.

 _'Water Style: Water Formation Wall!'_ Kawarama felt a mass of water erupt from his stomach. It felt like he was being sick. He spewed upwards in an arc, creating a medium-sized wall of water that went up and up and then spread out in a mushroom shape which decelerated the senbon to the point that they fell harmlessly to the ground. It also blasted the Rain shinobi off the ridge. Kawarama immediately collapsed on to his knees and began coughing up more water. Lots of it.

"I didn't know you could do that," said Minato.

"Trust me...if it didn't mean vomiting water for a few minutes afterwards...I would use it a lot more often," said Kawarama, trying to prevent a small river from exiting his mouth.

The Water Formation Wall – known thereafter as Kawarama's Puke, to his friends – had a strange effect on the quicksand; instead of making it even more viscous, the spent water mysteriously made the quicksand dry to a crumbled mixture of sand and gravel, which the Kawarama, Hiashi and Minato began to clamber out of.

"Alright that does it!" said the leader of the Rain shinobi as they leapt back up onto the ridge. "You stupid Leaf pipsqueaks are gonna regret messing with the Rain." Kawarama wiped his mouth and looked up at the Rain shinobi.

"I have had just about enough of you," he shouted. He broke out of the sand and tackled the leader off the ridge.

"Oh come on!" he cried. They rolled down the hill that led up to the ridge. When they stopped Kawarama was on top of the Rain shinobi and did not hesitate to deliver a quick punch to his jaw. However the Rain shinobi caught his fist and attempted to counter with his own punch. Kawarama grabbed his fist before it connected.

They remained like this for a moment, trying to over power one another. But the Rain shinobi suddenly smirked. He then seemed to slide out from under Kawarama, who was taken off-guard by the move.

"What the hell was that!?" he asked.

"If you're going to be fighting on foreign soil, it's good to learn some appropriate tactics, wouldn't you say?" The Rain shinobi then began sliding towards Kawarama like a snake. "Snakes move quickly and easily through the sand. Not only that, but they can twist and turn their bodies. What more could you ask for in a jutsu for a desert?"

Kawarama tried to punch him when he was in range, but the shinobi just twisted his body out of the way and delivered a blow of his own to Kawarama's side. Then he snaked his leg round and kicked Kawarama in the back of the head, driving his face into the sand. Kawarama slowly got back up, shaking his head but with a determined look in his eye.

"Hoho, so you're a glutton for punishment are ya?" said the Rain shinobi with a sadistic grin. He stretched his arms out and hit Kawarama in the chin and his lower back, sending him spinning into the air.

"You Leaf shinobi are _pitiful_."

"Shut up. You're really annoying." The Rain shinobi looked up in surprise. Kawarama had righted himself in mid-air. As he was coming down, using some of the left over water in his mouth, he shot a water bullet at the shinobi's face, causing him to recoil for a moment. Wiping his eyes he said: "You really think a little water is going to stop..."

His words were cut short by Kawarama landing on the ground and chucking a handful of sand in his face. The sand stuck to his wet face, getting in his eyes, nose and mouth.

"Arrrggh, my eyes. You bastard!" he cried, trying to wipe the sand from his eyes. When he managed to wipe enough away from one of his eyes to see he opened it, only to see a fist smacking into his face. The shinobi fell flat on the ground.

Kawarama looked down at the floored shinobi, a look of disappointment on his face. "Man, that wasn't any fun at all. When you showed up looking all tough, I was actually looking for a good fight. Oh well, guess you can't win them all."

"Hey Kawarama, are you done yet?" he looked up to see Minato and Hiashi standing triumphantly atop the ridge.

"Yeah, this guy wasn't much. How about you?"

"Oh, they weren't too tough to handle," said Minato.

Kawarama smiled. "By the way Hiashi, did you check to see what scroll these guys had?" Hiashi stiffened. Kawarama looked at him for a moment, then sighed.

"I swear, if we've been doing this just to find another heaven scroll, there are only going to be two members left in Team Six," he said, walking over to the unconscious Rain shinobi. He searched through his equipment and was relieved to find an earth scroll. He held it up for his teammates to see.

"Alright, now let's get going!" They took off, running at full speed in the direction of the central tower.

As they ran they saw no-one. Maybe they were too busy fighting each other or setting traps. They took the absence of other teams as a good sign. Maybe they'd be the first to get to the tower. Maybe.

An hour later and the three were standing at the base of the central tower. It was enormous, rising hundreds of metres into the sky. They could just make out a number of birds gliding round the top of the tower, dark specks against the blue sky. Around the base of the tower were a number of large doorways. They headed towards the nearest one. The three stepped inside, and before they knew it a stone slab closed pff the doorway behind them.

The inside of the tower was much like that of the one they had climbed to get the top of the wall earlier that day. The only difference was the light. Instead of being gloomy and poorly illuminated by oil lamps, the tower seemed to emanate light from somewhere. There was a strange violet-coloured glow that made no sense to any of them, but it meant they could make out the circular walls and see a staircase on the far side of the tower's interior.

The three team members looked around them, warily. "I hope this isn't some sort of trap." said Minato.

"I doubt it is," Hiashi replied.

"Well either way, what do we do now?" asked Kawarama. They thought for a moment.

"Perhaps it is to do with the scrolls," Minato suggested.

"Now that you mention it..." said Hiashi, "the proctor did say we mustn't open the scrolls 'until' we get to the tower. Perhaps now we are supposed to."

"Alright, we'll open them at the same time," said Kawarama. He took out both the scrolls, kept one and handed the other to Minato. They got ready to unravel the scrolls, looked to each other, then nodded.

"Now." Kawarama and Minato unravelled the scrolls simultaneously. But nothing happened. Kawarama looked at the contents of the scroll. Was that a jutsu formula? There appeared to be one on the scroll Minato had as well.

"Wait a minute, hey Minato, let me have a look at that one." Minato held up the scroll for Kawarama to see, and he held his scroll up to it. His hunch was correct.

"So that's how it is."

"That's how what is?" asked Hiashi.

"These scrolls each contain to a summoning formula. If you only have one, it looks like it's designed to send a certain signal to whatever is summoned. But if you have both..." Kawarama took both scrolls and lay them down on top of each other, "...then it sends an entirely different signal."

After sending some chakra into the scrolls there was a sudden puff of smoke from the scrolls. The smoke cleared to reveal Jiraiya. He had a cup in his hand and a bashful look on his face. It disappeared as soon as he acknowledged the three Genin standing in front of him. Then he looked around the large room. He turned back to the Genin.

"Um, what's going on?" he asked.

"We finished the phase," Kawarama said, confidently.

"Oh," Jiraiya did a double take. "Wait, _what_!? You mean you actually _finished_ it?"

"Did you think we couldn't?" asked Hiashi.

"Whether or not you could has nothing to do with it," Jiraiya said. "Although for the record, I had full confidence you would succeed. But the point is...IT'S ONLY BEEN FOUR HOURS!" The Genin gave him with quizzical looks.

"Er, is that a bad thing?" Minato asked, trying not to sound as sheepish as he felt.

"Are you kidding!? It takes most teams at least an entire day to finish the second phase of the Chunin Exams. I've never heard of anyone completing it in such a short time."

"Four hours," Kawarama repeated. "That's got to be some sort of record then."

"How could it not be!" yelled Jiraiya. Kawarama and Minato cheered before giving each other a high-five. Hiashi merely folded his arms with a confident smirk on his face.

Jiraiya sighed. "Well I guess this means you guys passed the second phase of the Chunin Exams. In this tower there are facilities in which you can eat, sleep and train. There are signs that will tell you where everything is, so I won't bother."

He walked up to them and handed Kawarama a key. "This is the key to the room you'll be staying in until the end of the second phase. Try to keep it civil." Jiraiya began walking off, Kawarama thought he heard him mutter something along the lines of..."Man, it was going so well, and then those kids just had to interrupt." Kawarama did not think much of it. With that Jiraiya then used shunshin and disappeared. The three genin looked at each other. Minato and Kawarama grinned while Hiashi smirked. They then gave each other a high-five.

* * *

 **So What did you think? I know that not a lot happened and it seemed to be a bit quick but the next phew chapters relating to the Chunin Exams should have a lot more 'meat on their bones' as it were. Any-who, thank you for reading and I will return with another chapter as soon as I am able**


	17. In The Tower

**Hey guys and gals, Hisashiburi desu, long time no see (Hope that's right).**

 **Any way, sorry that it's been so long. I had been aiming to put up another chapter earlier, but some things came up.**

 **Now about the story. Most of you may not think it that important but I shall say this none the less. I understand that the Chunin Exams were in fact created after the third shinobi world war. I have tried to come up with a simple explanation for that, so just bear with it even if you don't like it. This is a fanfiction after all. Just thought I should mention that now.**

 **One other thing, some of you may also be finding just a run of the mill Chunin Exam to be a little tedious. I apologise for this but it was the best thing I could think of for showing of a bit of the older generations skills as Genin. Again, you may not be bothered, but I'd like to mention it anyway.**

 **Alright, enjoy.**

* * *

It was the final day of the second phase of the Chunin Exams. High in the tower at the centre of the Demon Desert, in one of the few training rooms available to Genin who had passed the second phase, Kawarama trained hard in front of a thick wooden post that rose from the floor in the middle of the room up to the ceiling. His blue shirt and his mesh vest discarded, Kawarama strapped his vambraces to his arms, as he always did when he was in a combat situation. He had carefully placed his grandfather's happuri on the ground by the wall. Kawarama had been primarily training in his taijutsu for most of the week. He avoided training with what little ninjutsu he knew for fear of attracting unwanted attention. He would have used his sensory abilities to check if he was being watched, but then he wasn't very good at multitasking. Kawauso was curled up against the wall, dozing.

Throughout the week the only teams to have made it to the tower were the five from the Hidden Leaf, plus the Sand team that had caught Kawarama's eye before the exam. Kawarama was delighted and yet wary that all the teams from the Leaf had come through. As it probably meant he would have to fight his comrades. The first phase had focused on the teams' intellect and surveillance skills. The second phase had been on their ability to survive and whether they could be trusted to carry vitally important – and top secret – information. It seemed like the only thing left was to test their combat capabilities.

Kawarama was slashing at the wooden post when he heard the door to the training room door creak open. A scarlet head popped round the door.

"Hey Kawarama," said Kushina, smiling. "Have you seen Minato anywhere?"

Kawarama stopped what he was doing. "Hi Kushina. No I haven't, I've been in here most of the day," he replied. Kushina's smile was replaced by an expression of disappointment.

"Really, that's a shame." Then her smile returned. "Mind if we join you?"

"We?" Kushina opened the door fully and entered the room, closely followed by Hitomi and Hizumi.

"Oh, sure," Kawarama said, a little awkwardly. "What, no Mikoto?"

"She decided her time could be spent better training," Kushina shrugged. Kawarama raised an eyebrow.

"And you think otherwise because...?"

"Because I wanted to see Minato and Hizumi wanted to see you. But apparently one of those things isn't very easy to accomplish," said Kushina. Hizumi felt her face redden when she noticed Kawarama's bare, muscly torso. Kawauso woke up, drowsily spotted Hizumi and immediately ran up to her and leapt into her arms.

"Kawauso, it's nice to see you too," she said with a smile. Kushina looked at the pair of them, then gave Kawarama a rather peculiar look. It was much like the one she gave him during their conversation at the border between the Lands of Fire and Wind...oh...hang on... _now_ he remembered. Kawarama furrowed his eyebrows, feeling the anger rising inside him. He knew what was going on in Kushina's mind. But he quelled his feelings and continued talking to Hitomi.

"So why are you here?" he asked.

Hitomi replied, half sweetly, half matter-of-factly: "Two reasons. I would like to talk to Hiashi, and I am looking out for my sister."

Kawarama held up a finger. "Hiashi is back in our room." He held up a second finger. "Don't you think Hizumi really needs to have you escorting her everywhere?"

Hitomi frowned at him. "Hizumi may be capable but that doesn't mean I'm not allowed to worry for her safety," he protested.

"You're worrying unnecessarily," Kawarama said. Looking at Hizumi he was mildly irritated to see Kawauso nestled comfortably in her arms. "Hey Hizumi..."

"Yes?" she said, perking up.

"Come and show your sister just how strong you are," Kawarama said, spreading his feet and lowering his centre of gravity, ready to spar.

Hitomi attempted to protest at this but was stopped by a hand from Kushina on her shoulder. Hitomi noticed a twinkle in Kushina's eyes. Hitomi nodded and stepped back, allowing Hizumi to step forward and stand in the gentle fist stance.

"Just don't hit me with any chakra, ok?" Kawarama said with a smile. A small smile also appeared on Hizumi's face.

"Alright." They dashed towards each other, Hizumi thrusting forth a palm, Kawarama pulling back a fist.

"Excuse my interruption," a voice said suddenly. Kawarama immediately halted his advance. However Hizumi was distracted by the physical spectacle that was Kawarama, did not react as quickly. Her palm slapped into Kawarama's face. Hitomi and Kushina turned to see a Sand shinobi standing at the door.

"All Genin are to head to the tower's ground floor central room." The shinobi then departed.

Kushina and Hitomi turned back to the two combatants. Losing his balance, Kawarama fell backwards, dazed.

Hizumi quickly broke down, apologising profusely for smacking him. Kushina burst out laughing.

"You two just make the cutest couple," she said. While Hitomi did question Kushina's idea of 'cute' she had to agree. A moment later Kawarama sat up.

"I'm alright, I'm alright," he said, rubbing his face.

"Again, I'm very sorry," said Hizumi, she was kneeling down with her head pressed against the floor apologetically. Kawarama put his hands on her shoulders and sat her upright.

"No really, I'm fine," he said. Though not hurt Kawarama still had a bright red mark on his right cheek. Kushina and Hitomi couldn't help but snicker. Kawarama looked at them questioningly.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing," chuckled Kushina.

"Nothing at all," added Hitomi. Kawarama raised an eyebrow, but decided not to pursue the matter any further. He went and put his mesh and blue shirts back on, much to Hizumi's disappointment.

"Well anyway. I guess we should head to the meeting hall," said Kawarama. They headed out, Kawauso hopping onto Kawarama's shoulders as they left the room.

When they reached the hall they found all of their comrades and the Sand group lined up in their teams in the centre of the room. On the other side of the room at either end of a long wall were wide sweeping staircases that led up to a viewing balcony that spanned the entire width of the room.

Kawarama noticed all of the sensei in front of the Genin, standing on a slightly raised section of the floor.

"Looks like we are the last ones," said Hitomi. They quickly fell in line with the rest. Kawarama stood at the front of his team. The Sand team stood to his left, the auburn-haired boy at their head, the green/orange-haired girl behind him, and then the mysterious kid with the hooded jacket. But he now wore a different coloured jacket, albeit of the same make. It was dark red.

To Kawarama's immediate right was Fugaku, behind whom was Tsume, and behind her was Hizumi. The other three Leaf teams were on their right.

The atmosphere was a little awkward. All the sensei were simply standing in front of them, not doing anything. Were they waiting for something? From Kawarama's shoulder, Kawauso was leaning intently towards Fugaku with an innocent expression being cast from his big eyes. Fugaku noticed the rather uncomfortable closeness of Kawauso to his face.

"Will you get that thing out of my face?" he said quietly.

"Hmm?" Kawarama turned to him. Fugaku seemed to get more irritated.

"I said, will you get this damn rat out of my face?"

Kawarama sighed.

 _'This again?'_ he thought. "Look he's not a rat, he's an otter. There is a difference you know." Fugaku's irritation increased.

"I said it's a rat, so it's a rat!" he said, the volume of his voice increasing. This began to draw the attention of the other Genin and a few of the observing sensei.

"Hmh, are _all_ Leaf Genin as stupid as you?" Kawarama and Fugaku both turned to the auburn-haired boy who had his eyes focused forwards, his arms folded.

"What was that?!" said Fugaku, gritting his teeth.

The boy turned his gaze to Fugaku.

"And what do you mean by 'all'?" muttered Kawarama.

The boy ignored his question. "You are either blind, stupid, or unwilling to accept the reality. Qualities unbecoming of a shinobi. After all, it is quite clearly an otter."

Fugaku snapped. "Why, you...!" he yelled, making to strike the boy who also moved to counter.

But before any moves could be made a voice rang out. "Rasa!" The voice caused them both to freeze. The Sand Genin's face seemed horrified. All eyes turned in the direction of the sensei. There was an another figure among them. He was quite tall, with short messy, dark blue hair and yellow eyes. He wore robes similar to the Hokage's, but without the hat, and he was wearing a green kimono rather than a red one.

 _'When did he get there?'_ Kawarama thought. _'There's only one entrance and I didn't even see him pass.'_

"Provoking your opponents is not always a wise decision," the man said in a deep voice. The boy who had provoked Fugaku and who was apparently named Rasa, shot back into a straight posture.

"Yes, forgive me, Lord Kazekage," he said respectfully.

 _'Kazekage!?'_ thought Kawarama. Well, the robes should have given it away. Perhaps it was the absence of the hat that threw Kawarama off. Either way, he must be the one they were all waiting for.

The Kazekage looked over the Genin with a critical eye before speaking.

"It seems we have a large number of Hidden Leaf Genin to have made it this far. Very interesting," he said.

"But now, allow me to explain something to you." All were now listening intently. "I am going to tell you the true meaning behind these Chunin Exams."

The Kazekage paused, looking at the teams. Each member felt his eyes bore into them. He spoke: "It is true that the Chunin exams have the purpose of selecting those among the ranks of each villages Genin who are deemed worthy of becoming Chunin. However, they do hold another purpose..." Many of the Genin looked confused. What other purpose could the 'Chunin Exams' have other than choosing Genin to become Chunin?

"That purpose..." the Kazekage continued. "Is as a substitution for war." Kawarama stiffened.

 _'War?'_ he thought. _'This...is supposed to be war?'_ He looked around at the other Genin, who were taking this latest information on board with expressions ranging from the fearful to the outright excited.

Before Kawarama's mind could wander anything further, the Kazekage began to speak again.

"Allow me to explain. A number of years ago, back during the dawn of Hidden Villages, each village would hold its own Chunin Exams by their own means. However, once the First Shinobi World War broke out, a plan was developed by one of the Kage. I find it fitting that we have a large number of Genin from the Hidden Leaf Village here..." he said, gesturing to the fifteen Leaf Genin in front of him.

"After all, it was your own Tobirama Senju, The Second Hokage, who developed a plan to have all the Hidden Villages come together and hold a single, united Chunin Exams, as a substitute for war."

Kawarama's eyes widened. Tobirama, his grandfather, came up with the Chunin Exams. He wished he had met him, known what kind of man he was.

The Kazekage's face remained impassive as he continued. "But alas, before he could present his idea to the world, he lost his life in the war. Luckily, his disciple, now known as The Third Hokage, knew of his plan. When the war was over, the Third Hokage called a Five Kage Summit, only the second to have ever been thus summoned. He told the other four Kage of Tobirama's idea. And so, the Chunin Exams were born."

The room stood silent. None of the Leaf Genin had any idea how much their village had played a part in the Chunin Exams. But before their concentration could break the Kazekage added a final note. "However, I'm sure that it doesn't need to be explained that the Chunin Exams have not always been enough to hold the tide of war."

The Genin's eyes fell to the floor. They knew that despite it being a number of years before they were born, they had covered the Third Shinobi World War extensively during their time in the Academy.

The Kazekage held out his arms.

"But now is not the time to dwell on past events. I have done my part as Kazekage, and I will now pass you on to the proctor for the third phase of the exams."

The Kazekage stepped aside to reveal a small elderly woman with greying hair. Her head was slumped on her chest, almost as if she were asleep, yet she was still standing. She was completely still.

The Genin stood confused, but for the Sand team who, along with the Kazekage, merely sighed. Suddenly, the old woman jerked her head up and jumped forward.

"Boo!" she said. Startled, the Leaf Genin were even more confused than before. "Bet you thought I was dead! Well I'm not!" the old woman sang, falling into a fit of hysterical laughter.

"Is she senile or something?" Kawarama heard Tsume whisper. The Kazekage, whose expression had been unreadable before, looked pained.

"Lady Chiyo, please," he said. Chiyo slowly calmed down from her laughing fit and looked to the Genin.

The old woman peered at the examinees. "Alright you little runts, here's what's going to happen: The way the third and final phase of the Exams works is that we have a knockout tournament. Anyone in that tournament can be promoted to Chunin, but don't let that stop you from trying to win, as there will be a large crowd of nobles and higher-ups from all over coming to see just who's village is the best to hire. However, there is a slight problem. Of course, no-one wants to sit around for hours on end to watch eighteen little kids battling it out. What the viewers want is excitement, thrills. You know, the good stuff!"

Many of the Genin were attempting to shuffle backwards to get as far away from this mad old woman as possible.

She gave an eerie grin. "So what we've got to do is whittle you down a bit. There's eighteen of you here...I suppose nine will be an alright number." All the Genin knew exactly what that meant.

"So half of us have to be knocked out of the running before we can even start the third phase," said Kawarama.

"That means we'll end up having to fight our comrades," added Minato.

"Well, I suppose it was inevitable," said Hiashi, "considering what these exams are intended to resolve."

"Maybe so," said Kawarama. "But I still don't like it."

Chiyo slowly paced up and down in front of the teams, her gaze burning into every one of them. "We will now be holding a round of preliminary matches to determine who will take part in the third phase of the Chunin Exams," she said. "But before that, is there anyone who does not wish to continue? If so simply raise your hand."

There was a moment of silence as no-one moved. Chiyo nodded. "Very well, if you'd all like to turn around." The Genin did so. On the wall above the door was a large TV monitor. "Let's see who's up first shall we," said Chiyo with a little cackle. Two names appeared on the screen in large bold letters. 'Chisuna vs. Shibi Aburame'.

 _'Chisuna?'_ Kawarama thought. _'That must be...'_ His eyes turned to the Sand Genin with the hooded jacket.

"Everyone besides Shibi and Chisuna, please relocate to the viewing balcony," said Chiyo. Everyone did as she instructed. As he made his way up the stairs Kawarama gave Shibi a pat on the back.

"Good luck Shibi," he said.

"My thanks, but luck will not be necessary," he said plainly. Kawarama sighed and began walking off.

"If you say so."

When Kawarama reached the stairs Kawauso suddenly leapt off the his shoulders and ran towards the door.

"Kawauso!" Kawarama yelled. "Where are you going?" His only reply was a few loud squeaks. Kawarama sighed. "Alright, just get back here as soon as you can!" Kawauso managed to pry open the large door and scamper out.

"Where's he going?" asked Minato as they ascended the stairs.

"He said there was something he needed to do," Kawarama replied.

"Well I'm sure it's nothing to worry about."

"Yeah."

The observers shuffled up the stairs and peered over the viewing balcony parapet, some 20 feet above the room where the action was about to unfold.

Chisuna and Shibi stood opposite each other staring at each other.

Chiyo raised her hand. "Alright you brats, let's get this over with shall we?"

* * *

 **Well that's it for this chapter. Chunin next time (see what I did there) to see Shibi battle it out against the mysterious Chisuna, (bloody sand, kind of creepy right?). See you next time, hope you enjoyed.**


	18. The Preliminaries, Part 1

**Hello ladies and gentlemen. Sure has been a while, but here you are, yet another chapter to the tale.**

 **Before you go on reading I'd just like to say one thing, and that is that again I apologize for giving you essentially a copy of the Chunin exams (though I would like to point out there are and will be differences). Also, as you can tell by the title there will even be preliminaries, cause in Naruto they did have only nine *cough* I mean eight people fighting in the third phase (poor Dosu). But anyway here is the first batch of fights.**

* * *

Standing at the edge of the viewing balcony Kawarama peered down at the two fighters who were about to start fighting. Shibi stood opposite Sand Genin Chisuna. Both looked relaxed; jackets on, hands in pockets. They looked like a mirror image of each other, other than that Chisuna wore a dark red hooded jacket while Shibi's was grey.

"Begin!" shouted Chiyo. There was a momentary pause, the two combatants simply looking at each other. Then Chisuna darted towards Shibi, a kunai in each hand, held in reverse-grip. Shibi made no initial movement, but then bent his knees slightly, sliding one foot back.

 _'An evasive stance?'_ thought Kawarama. _'He isn't going to counter?'_ But that's how Shibi was; the cautious type, never underestimating anyone, no matter how weak.

When Chisuna reached Shibi he brought up a kunai to swing for his neck. Shibi ducked and leapt backwards. Chisuna followed through with his other hand, trying to stab at Shibi, who simply dodged to one side and leapt backwards again. Chisuna seemed irritated, and began to make multiple swings in quick succession. But Shibi was able to dodge them with relative ease as he continued to move backwards. A few steps before the wall, Chisuna lunged toward Shibi, arm extended. Shibi leapt back onto the wall and pushed off, flying over Chisuna. As he did so, he placed a foot on Chisuna's head, shoving his face into the wall. Shibi landed gracefully on the floor a few feet away.

Chisuna had fallen to his knees. When he turned around, Kawarama could see that Chisuna was gritting his teeth, and his nose appeared to be bleeding. He must have hit the wall with quite some force. Kawarama looked back to Shibi, who was standing back where he had begun the fight. Kawarama could see he was thinking, calculating his next move – and the one after that. The Aburame were probably only second to the Nara when it came to intellect, and Shibi was the living proof.

Chisuna charged towards Shibi once again, swinging his kunai from all directions. Shibi took his hands out of his pockets and deflected every attack that Chisuna could throw at him, parrying his assailant's blows with his hands. As the attack continued, Kawarama noticed Chisuna's movements becoming more sluggish. Even though he was a Genin, Kawarama at least expected him to have more stamina, not least since he hadn't used any jutsu. Chisuna suddenly stopped his assault. He was breathing heavily, his arms hanging loosely at his sides. Shibi stood a few metres away, his hands returned to his pockets. Chisuna wiped sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, but paused midway. All over his hands were little black insects. How did they get there? He looked down, and for the first time, noticed that his entire body was covered in these little bugs. His angered had distracted him, but it became clear that these things had to belong to Shibi, who stood, almost nonchalantly, a few metres away.

Shibi, slowly pulled his hands out of his pockets, and held them out in front of him. Suddenly, black swarms of insects began pouring out of his sleeves. They moved to surround Chisuna.

"This fight is as good as over," said Jiraiya.

Kawarama turned to him. "What do you mean?"

Jiraiya frowned. "I'm sure guys noticed at some point that Shibi is quite fond of insects. The Aburame clan are renowned for their link with a specific species known as kikaichu beetles. They feed on chakra and can be used to whittle down an opponents strength. Every time Shibi deflected Chisuna's attacks, I assume he placed more and more of them on him. If Chisuna could use any jutsu he won't be able to now. There's no way he'll make it out of this one."

At that very moment the kikaichu beetles surrounding Chisuna swarmed over him. He attempted to swat away as many of them as possible, but they ultimately overwhelmed him. After a few seconds the insect-covered figure of Chisuna collapsed. The kikaichu beetles retreated and returned to Shibi.

"The winner is Shibi Aburame!" declared Chiyo. A medical team entered the hall to carry the incapacitated Chisuna away, while Shibi joined his team on the viewing platform. When Shibi reached his team the screen began scrolling through a list of names. It finally came to stop. 'Choza Akimichi vs. Hizumi Hyuga'.

Kawarama turned to look at Hizumi, who stood on the other side of the viewing platform. She was looking up at the screen, her face fixed in an expression of strong determination, something that made Kawarama smile.

"Looks like your girl's up." Kawarama jumped back to see a smirking Kushina.

Kawarama's nose wrinkled. "Will you stop calling her 'my girl'? It's not like we're together or anything," he said, walking back to the railing.

"I would say that I'm just looking into the future," Kushina said, leaning towards him.

"That sounds stupid. And besides, shouldn't you be with your team?"

"Probably, but now I'm here," she said, moving to stand next to Minato. They smiled at each other then looked down to the lower level. Kawarama sighed, then turned his attention to the fight that was about to begin below them.

Hizumi stood resolutely opposite Choza, who looked back at her a friendly smile. Hizumi held up her hands in the ram seal and activated her byakugan. Veins bulged around her eyes. She then moved into her gentle-fist stance. Kawarama always thought that the activated byakugan always made the Hyuga look rather menacing, but he never felt that way when he saw Hizumi use it. Choza lowered his body slightly to something akin to a sumo stance. Chiyo looked between the two. She grinned.

"Well, seeing as you kids are so eager, how about we get this started? Begin!"

"Expansion Jutsu," said Choza. His body seemed to inflate, his arms and legs then were sucked up inside his body to be replaced with jets of chakra.

"Human Boulder!" Choza then began to roll towards Hizumi at high speed. She did not move. As Choza was just about to hit her she hopped deftly to the side, jabbing him with two chakra tipped fingers as she did so. Choza didn't seem affected by her prods as he veered round to attack her again. This time Hizumi pumped a small amount of chakra into her legs and jumped. As Choza passed under her, Hizumi struck him multiple times. This had a much greater impact as Choza span out of control and collided with the wall, leaving a large dent in it.

"Wow, Hizumi sure is amazing," said Minato.

"Of course she is. What did you expect?" said Kawarama.

"Well to be fair, the odds are highly in her favour," said Jiraiya. "All she needs to do is keep dodging like that, and either Choza will run out of chakra from over using his jutsu, or Hizumi will seal up all of his chakra points."

Choza then reverted to his normal size. He was panting heavily.

"This fight won't last much longer," said Jiraiya.

"But it just started!" said Kawarama, slightly annoyed.

Jiraiya sighed. "Fights don't last that long you know. I'd be surprised if a one on one lasted ten minutes. Sometimes they only last ten seconds. It all depends on those who are fighting," he said. Jiraiya's speculation on the length of the fight was almost spot on. Hizumi continued to batter away at Choza until he collapsed from exhaustion, panting heavily.

"I...don't...think...I can...move...anymore," he wheezed. Chiyo stepped forward.

"As Choza is unable to continue, the winner is Hizumi Hyuga!" Hizumi looked up to Kawarama, who gave her a thumbs up, accompanied by a large grin. She smiled in return and then walked over to Choza and crouched down beside him.

"I very sorry about that Choza," she said, sincerely. Choza attempted to smile.

"Don't...worry...I'm fine...really." Members of a medical team then appeared to carry Choza away to recover.

"Well, that's two down," said Jiraiya. "Wonder who's next?"

All eyes turned to the monitor for the next match-up. The monitor blurred through the remaining names before stopping. 'Tsume Inuzuka vs. Shikaku Nara'. Tsume scoffed.

"I gotta go up against him? Great," she said, making her way down the steps. Shikaku hesitated to follow her.

"Man, this is so troublesome," he sighed, before falling in step behind her.

"Well, the outcome of this fight was obvious the moment it his name came up on the screen," said Hiashi.

"Hey, come on Hiashi," Kawarama said. "Tried to have a little more faith in your comrades."

"Having faith in either of them does not increase their abilities. Which is something you should understand," Hiashi bluntly replied. Kawarama glared at him.

Tsume and Shikaku faced off against one another.

"Begin whenever you're ready," Chiyo said, rather unceremoniously.

"Should I bother trying to win?" Shikaku asked himself. "I don't even know. It sounds troublesome in itself."

"I don't know about you Shikaku, but I'm fighting to win here," said Tsume. Kuromaru, who stood next to her, barked in agreement.

"By all means, go ahead," said Shikaku.

Tsume leant close to the ground and spread out on all fours. Kuromaru leapt onto her back.

"Beast mimicry: Man beast clone," said Tsume. Kuromaru transformed into a lookalike of Tsume. Then both charged towards him. They leapt into the air and began to spin.

"Fang-over-fang!" cried one Tsume. Shikaku's eyes widened as he barely managed to dodge the two drill-like forms.

"I'd preferably like to stay in one piece Tsume!" shouted Shikaku.

"In that case you'll have to keep dodging, Shikaku," she replied as the pair of lookalikes stopped and fluidly span around into another fang-over-fang towards Shikaku.

Crouching on one knee, Shikaku swiftly made the rat seal. "Shadow possession jutsu," he said, and a black line shot from his shadow and attached to one of the Tsume's shadow, stopping her in her tracks. The Tsume blinked as she was momentarily suspended in mid-air, before falling into the same position as Shikaku.

"Well at least I didn't hit my face," she sighed. Shikaku smirked. He got the right one.

"Shadow possession complete." Now Tsume smirked.

"But not for long." Kuromaru, in the guise of Tsume, returned for another attack. He collided into Shikaku's side knocking him away and releasing Tsume from his shadow. "Nice work Kuromaru. Now let's go for the finishing blow." Kuromaru barked. Up in the viewing balcony Kawarama couldn't help but snigger at the sight of a bark coming from the other Tsume. The pair, didn't notice this and continued with another fang-over-fang but collided and began spinning around each other.

"Duel tunnelling fang!" yelled Tsume. The two drill-like forms began to grind together as they span round each other.

"Hey, that looks pretty dangerous," said Kawarama. All amusement absent in his tone. "Is she trying to cripple Shikaku or something?"

"What happened to faith in friends Kawarama?" asked Hiashi. Kawarama once again glared at him.

Once Shikaku recovered from the earlier hit he smirked.

"Thanks for the added range." Shikaku crouched down again and performed shadow possession jutsu. His shadow shot out towards Tsume and Kuromaru. "And for being so close together." But just before Shikaku's shadow reached the spinning pair, they split apart. They circled round in order to collide together with Shikaku in the middle.

"Got you!" exclaimed Tsume as she grew closer to Shikaku, whose shadow had not yet returned to normal.

"It doesn't look like it'll make it in time," said Kushina up on the balcony. When they were just a foot away, however, Tsume and Kuromaru stopped dead in their tracks. The room fell silent. Tsume blinked.

"What the hell?" she said. Shikaku stood up, a smirk on his face. Tsume's eyes widen as both her and Kuromaru in her form copied his actions. "How did you...?" Shikaku didn't say anything; he merely looked down causing her to do the same. There was a thin black line connecting all three of their shadows. The next thing she knew, Tsume was reaching for her kunai pouch.

As Shikaku held up a kunai to her neck, Tsume also held up a kunai into the open air. She gulped nervously.

"I believe this is your loss," said Shikaku. Tsume gritted her teeth.

"I give," she said after a moments pause Chiyo stepped forward.

"Tsume Inuzuka has forfeited. Shikaku Nara is the winner." There was not much interest in Chiyo's voice. She was very familiar with the Nara clan. The outcome was obvious from the very beginning. Shikaku exhaled heavily as he released Tsume and Kuromaru from his jutsu, the small pup returning to his original form. Tsume stood motionless. So close. She had been so close to beating him, but in the end she was outmatched. Shikaku glanced at her and sighed.

"Don't sweat over it so much," he said, an attempt at reassurance.

"How did you split your shadow in two?" she asked.

"Oh that? All I did was half the amount of chakra I usually put into one shadow and then split it into two directions," Shikaku said simply. Tsume gritted her teeth.

"To be honest, there was a fifty-fifty chance that it didn't work, seeing as I only came up with the idea at the start of the match. Didn't think I'd actually have to try it though."

Tsume's jaw dropped. She watched in disbelief as Shikaku sauntered back up to the viewing platform. He had won just by taking a chance?! Chiyo cleared her throat, knocking Tsume out of her stupor. She ran back up to the viewing platform. She'd get Shikaku for this, one day.

Once more yellow letters blurred across the screen, before finally settling on the next pair of combatants

* * *

 **That's it for the first three fights everyone. Hope they were alright, I don't really consider fights to be my strong suit.**

 **Oh well, until next time, Sayonara.**

 **P.S. would you believe me if I told you all the match-ups except for one, came from pulling names out of a hat?**


	19. The Preliminaries, Part 2

**Howdy guys. I apologise for not releasing a chapter recently but I've had a lot of stuff that had required my full attention...somewhat. But I am happy to assure you that I have a lot more time on my hands now an so should be able to update Kawarama's littl'-old adventure more frequently.**

 **Without further ado, please enjoy.**

* * *

All eyes were on the screen, and throughout the room no-one said a word. Kawarama's eyes were wide open. He didn't know what to make of it. It almost seemed cruel. 'Hiashi Hyuga vs Hizashi Hyuga.' Two brothers having to fight each other; he didn't like the idea of that at all. Kawarama glanced at Hiashi, who was staring intently at the screen, as if willing it to change. Then he broke off his gaze, turned and began to make his way towards the steps. Kawarama put a hand on his teammate's shoulder and nodded to him. Hiashi returned the nod before continuing on.

Hiashi had never really divulged much about his relationship with his brother, or rather the topic had never arisen. But Kawarama knew that there was some uneasiness between the twins. He assumed it had something to do with the despicable Hyuga hierarchy and the 'Caged Bird Seal' he had heard of. It was something even the stoic facade of the Hyuga could not hide.

"So it has come to this," said Hiashi as he faced off his brother.

"Indeed it has," Hizashi replied. "But the outcome is obvious. The elders would much prefer the heir to succeed over one who is cursed."

"Do not refer to yourself like that Hizashi, you are still my brother." A pained expression appeared on Hiashi's face. Hizashi raised a hand to his chin in thought

" _Perhaps I should forfeit,"_ he thought to himself, ignoring Hiashi's words.

As if he'd heard his brother, Hiashi said: "If I were to win against you Hizashi, I would rather it be through a fair fight than by default."

Hizashi just looked glummer than ever. "I'm sure you would, though the outcome will undoubtedly be the same. Such is fate." He slipped into a gentle fist stance. Hiashi moved into the same position. The only way to tell the two twins apart was their clothing.

There was a flurry of gentle fist strikes, parried, deflected and struck on target. Kawarama could tell that Hizashi was losing deliberately, which made watching the fight all the more painful. He could more or less guess the situation, even without being informed by Hiashi. Hiashi and Hizashi were twins, however Hiashi was the official heir to the Hyuga. This made him think that perhaps Hizashi would lose for that simple reason, he feared the alternative, that Hizashi had been shunned to the so called 'branch house' of the family, meaning he had received a Caged Bird Seal. Kawarama also feared that a similar fate would befall Hitomi and Hizumi at some point. Kawarama was brought out of his thoughts as he noticed Hizashi hit the ground, a trickle of blood escaping the side of his mouth. He lay there, unmoving, staring at the ceiling. Hiashi stood a few metres away. Chiyo watched for a moment as silence reigned, before raising her arm.

"Hiashi Hyuga is the winner." Hiashi did not move until Hizashi had been taken out of the room by a medical team. His eyes were focused on the floor. Kawarama could have sworn a pained expression glazed over his teammate's generally emotionless face.

When Hiashi returned to his team Kawarama once again placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, Hiashi, are you alright?" he asked, concern evident in his voice. Hiashi merely looked at him, before turning his eyes towards the screen. Kawarama let his hand fall from Hiashi's shoulder. He eventually turned to the screen as well, as the next combatants had already been decided.

'Inoichi Yamanaka vs Mitzuki Toriyama'

When their match began Inoichi quickly crouched down on one knee and raised his hands to target Mitzuki. Realising what he was doing, Mitzuki flashed threw a few hand seals and then slammed his hands on the ground.

"Earth Style: Mud Wall." A thick wall made of mud bricks shot up from the ground between the two Genin. Inoichi stood up and ran towards the wall. He had gotten into the mind transfer jutsu stance to see how Mitzuki would react. Inoichi leapt up onto the wall and down onto Mitzuki, who responded by throwing a handful of shuriken at him. Inoichi nimbly dodged them. They engaged in a quick hand-to-hand fight before Mitzuki kicked Inoichi into the solid wall of mud. Inoichi quickly recovered and leapt over it. Mitzuki soon followed.

When Mitzuki landed on the other side of the wall Inoichi was not there. He looked around and saw behind him Inoichi in the trademark Yamanaka stance. With a hint of panic Mitzuki flashed threw hands signs even quicker than before. Slamming his hands on the ground another mud wall shot up just as Inoichi's body fell limp. There was a brief pause. Mitzuki slowly stood back up and walked round to Inoichi's unconscious body.

"Looks like luck was on Mitzuki's side," said Jiraiya. Kawarama folded his arms over the railing.

"Another quick one eh?" Down on the ground floor Mitzuki spoke towards Inoichi's body.

"Better luck next time pal." Chiyo raised her arm.

"The winner of this fight is..." but she was interrupted when Mitzuki raised his own hand.

"I forfeit!" he declared with a grin.

"Wait, what?!" said Kawarama. Jiraiya just chuckled.

"Heh, guess I was wrong. Luck was on the Yamanaka's side." Chiyo then declared Inoichi the winner. Mitzuki stumbled back a few steps, blinking his eyes a few times.

"What happened?"

"Sorry Mitzuki." he turned to see Inoichi standing victoriously next to him. "You just weren't fast enough." Mitzuki visibly deflated.

"Aw man," he said. Inoichi put a sympathetic hand on his shoulder as they walked back to the viewing balcony.

"Man, that one flipped quite a bit," said Kawarama.

"Never expect things to be the way they seem," said Jiraiya, a certain phrase that his sensei once told him springing into his head. "Look underneath the underneath." Kawarama looked at him quizzically. Then he noticed Hitomi walking to the stairs. He looked at the screen to see that she was up next, and against the green haired Sand Genin, called Pakura.

When the match began Pakura put her hands into the ram seal, while Hitomi activated her Byakugan and moved into a gentle fist stance. After a few seconds four strange bright orbs appeared around Pakura and begun to rotate around her. She looked as if she was the centre of a mini solar system. Out of the corner of his eye Kawarama saw Sakumo grab hold of the railing tightly.

"That's Scorch Style!" he said. He then turned towards the Kazekage. "Lord Kazekage, how can you let such a dangerous kekkei genkai be used in the Chunin Exams?!" The Kazekage looked at him blankly.

"Pakura is far from perfecting it, and her current skill is not enough for it to be fatal. Your student will survive whether she wins or loses." Kawarama couldn't help but notice that beyond survival, the Kazekage did not assure how severely Hitomi may be injured. He couldn't help feeling a little nervous for her.

Hitomi herself did not make much of a reaction, but her hands began to give off a thick blue glow. Pakura smirked as she rushed towards Hitomi. But instead of moving to strike her, Pakura leapt up into the air and one of the orbs halted in its rotation and sped towards Hitomi, who easily avoided it. Hitomi leapt up to meet Pakura in the air. Pakura sent another orb flying towards her, while the orb that Hitomi had dodged then turned and came towards her from the other side. Thanks to her Byakugan, Hitomi noticed this and twisted her body in mid air. Pakura's jaw dropped when Hitomi deflected the orbs with her hands, the thick chakra she had coated them with acting like a glove to protect her from the effects of the fizzing globes. One orb flew past Pakura's face while the other flew straight into the ground, causing it to disappear and leaving a ploom of steam rising from where it had landed. Hitomi then flipped her body, bringing her heal down on Pakura's shoulder, sending her front first into the ground. Hitmoi landed next to her and leapt back.

Kawarama chuckled.

"Never thought I'd see a Hyuga use a kick," he said looking towards Hiashi. Hiashi did not give any form of recognition beyond a muttered "Indeed."

As soon as Pakura stood up Hitomi had already moved back into range and was making her first strikes. However Hitomi was not able to land as many hits on Pakura as she would have liked, as one of the orbs, controlled by Pakura, came zooming towards her from behind. Hitomi managed to easily dodge it by ducking right. The orb stopped centimetres from Pakura's torso. Having just dodged one orb Hitomi was not able to fully avoid another that was circling behind Pakura as it spontaneously halted and sped in her direction. The orb grazed her side and she cried out as pain shot through the left side of her torso. Kawarama noticed Sakumo's hands tighten their grip around the steel railing.

Hitomi leapt back a considerable distance and inspected the injury she had acquired. Despite her clothing remaining undamaged her left side had been severely burnt. She quickly shut off the tenketsu surrounding the injury in order to lessen the pain. She may cause greater injury to herself in the long run, but right now she didn't care, she just wanted to make Chunin. She turned her eyes towards Pakura, who had not moved from her position, the orbs still circling around her, hand on her hip, an impatient look on her face. Was she letting Hitomi rest? Was it because of pity or arrogance? It was difficult to tell, but Hitomi was by no means complaining.

Hitomi eyed the orbs that Pakura had created with her Scorch Style. Evidently she could control them at will and by no means were they restricted movement-wise, she assumed there was a drawback. If there was it would most likely be a need of concentration. Seeing a potential flaw in Pakura's technique, Hitomi quickly devised a plan of attack in which she could both defend and attack at the same time.

She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly before dashing forward with a burst of speed that most Chunin would be proud of, surprising Pakura once again. Yet when Hitomi began to strike Pakura's tenketsu with heavily chakra-caked hands the orbs around her immediately moved to hit Hitomi. As Hitomi struck Pakura she began to spin deflecting all the orbs that came at her with ease. Applying larger amounts of chakra to her hands not only protected them from harm but it also meant that she was sending more chakra into Pakura's tenketsu. This resulted in a higher degree of pain than the average Jyuken strike, at least for a Genin. This pain cause Pakura to lose focus on the orbs making it easier for Hitomi to deflect them.

With the final hit, Hitomi delivered a powerful palm strike to the centre of Pakura's abdomen. The blow sent Pakura flying, slamming her into the wall. She collapsed onto the floor.

She soon struggled to her feet, but even the observers on the viewing balcony could see how much her legs were shaking, barely keeping her from a second meeting with the floor. As she made the effort to stand Pakura glared at Hitomi, who stood not far off, calm and collected, in a Jyuken stance. Although Pakura knew she could not win, it didn't make it any easier. She grit her teeth and attempted to raise a shaking arm.

"I give," she said. Chiyo gave Pakura a somewhat disproving look before saying:

"The winner of this match is Hitomi Hyuga." She hoped that Rasa would give a better example of Sand Genin quality than the rest of his teammates.

Hitomi relaxed and gave Pakura a friendly smile before returning to the viewing balcony. Pakura sneered back at her before making her way towards the door to the room to seek medical attention.

Sakumo asked Tsunade to inspect the injury Hitomi had received.

"It will only grow worse if left unattended, I suggest you head to the medical ward." Hitomi was quick to do so, running up behind Pakura as she made her way to the door. As Pakura moved to open the door it flew open, revealing Kawauso in mid leap and flinging her onto the floor. Without missing a beat Kawauso continued up to where Kawarama and his team were standing. Pakura merely grumbled something about 'stupid animals' before getting up, refusing the hand of a giggling Hitomi, and leaving the room.

"Hey Kawauso," said Kawarama as his four legged friend approached him. Kawarama then noticed something strapped to Kawauso's back. It was his two ninjato. He chuckled sheepishly.

"Oh yeah, I must've left them in our room when I went to train."

"Honestly," Kushina sighed as she crouched down to stroke Kawauso. "How could you forget these?" She took the blades off Kawauso's back and handed them to Kawarama, who thanked her.

Out of the corner of his eye Kawarama saw Minato stiffen.

"Hey, Minato, are you alright?" Minato did not reply. Kawarama followed his gaze to the monitor. Kawarama's eyes widened. The next match up had been decided.

"Hey, what are you guys..." Kushina stopped mid sentence as her eyes also landed on the monitor.

'Minato Namikaze vs. Kushina Uzumaki'

* * *

 **Dun dun duuuun, plot twist.**

 **Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, I apologise (seem to be doing a lot of that) if the fights weren't to your liking, if I've said it before I'll say it again, I don't think I'm that good at them but I do try my best.**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading and stay tuned for the next chapter.**


	20. The Preliminaries, Part 3

**I have returned! I apologize for my extended absence guys, I know I said that I would have more time on my hands so I could right more. But all the time in the world is only helpful if you know what to write. And considering in there will be quite a bit of fighting, it will take a little longer to dish them out cause fights aren't the easiest things to put into words.**

 **But fear not ladies and gentleman for I come bearing the gift of two chapters, that's right a double bill. I had intended to release these on the 13th to somewhat celebrate the unofficial end of Naruto Shippuden, cause despite the few episode of filler that are due, the cannon has technically ended, however my editor was a little preoccupied and so was not able to give the chapter a once over in time.**

 **But without further ado, here his the first of the two chapters today.**

* * *

Kawarama looked to the ground floor with unease. He wasn't entirely sure what was going through either of their heads right now but he knew they didn't like this even more than he did.

Standing on the ground floor of the room, waiting anxiously for Chiyo to call, Minato and Kushina looked at one another, their eyes locked, their faces expressionless, neither very excited about this turn of events.

When Chiyo finally began the fight, instead of moving to attack or drawing a weapon, Minato simply smiled at Kushina, taking her slightly off guard.

"Let's do our best, ok?" he said. Kushina's expression suddenly became one of anger as she leapt up into the air and drew back a fist. Minato hastily hopped to one side as she came crashing down, a spider-web of cracks spreading out from where her fist met the ground. Many eyes turned towards Tsunade, who wasn't even trying to withhold a smirk.

"Tsunade, did you...?" Jiraiya began.

"Hey don't look at me," she said putting her hands up. "She was that strong when she took her Genin test." Tsunade distinctly remembered a particular moment during the Genin trials. Having a tree thrown at you by a twelve-year-old girl counted as one for the record books.

Meanwhile Kushina was still swinging at Minato, evidently peeved.

"Kushina are you okay? You seem angry," said Minato as he ducked under Kushina's fist. A vein popped on Kushina's forehead. She brought her leg up to catch the side of Minato's head, but he hopped back out of range.

"How can you act so casually!" she shouted.

"What are you talking about? All I said was that we should our best. These are the Chunin exams after all," said Minato.

"That's not the point!"

"Well then, what _is_ the point?" Kushina paused for a moment.

 _'Why did I have to fall for someone as oblivious as him.'_ She sighed inwardly. She then looked at Minato with a straight face.

"Never mind, forget what I said. Let's do this." Kushina then charged towards Minato, who merely smiled.

"With pleasure." He too charged.

The first swing was by Kushina, who aimed for a simple fist to the face. Minato easily dodged the attempted strike by ducking. Then he brought a fist up to uppercut Kushina, but she managed to catch his fist with her other hand. Her grip tightened and she flung Minato into the air. When Minato righted himself and began falling back down Kushina, with a boost of chakra, leapt up to meet him. Kushina tried to punch Minato again, and once again Minato was able to avoid it and respond with bringing his leg round to collide with Kushina's neck. But Kushina was again able to catch his strike, she used Minato's leg to pull him towards her and then delivered a swift punch to his stomach. With one of his hands Minato was able to stall the brunt of the blow, but the overall force sent him spiralling towards the ground.

Prior to hitting the ground Minato spun around, landing feet first, and leapt back a considerable distance as Kushina's fist impacted where he had landed.

Attempting to block out the pain he felt in his arm, Minato drew a kunai. Kushina merely raised her fists, ready for another bout.

"About time we wrapped things up, don't you think?" Minato said with a smile. Kushina simply nodded and rushed towards him, Minato following suit.

The ensuing exchange took up barely any space, as each blow was only dodged or blocked by a hair's breadth. Minato and Kushina continued at an frantic pace, vaulting over one another, ducking round and striking in various ways. This bout ended in less than a minute.

The audience looked on with a mixture of emotions. Admiration, acknowledgement, pride. They observed the aftermath of Minato and Kushina's match with mixed feelings.

Kushina lay flat on her back, a kunai held to her throat. Minato was crouched over her, a determined expression on his face. They both were breathing heavily.

Slowly Chiyo stepped forward.

"The victor of this match is Minato Namikaze!" she declared. Minato's determined expression eased into a smile as he stood up and held out a hand to Kushina.

"That was fun, eh Kushina?" he said. The girl stared at him for a moment with a furrowed brow, but that creased into a smile.

"Yeah, I guess it was." She took his hand.

As Kawarama watched the pair make their way back up onto the viewing balcony he was glad to see them smiling. He had become a little worried when Kushina had got angry, but that appeared to be behind them. Kawarama breathed a sigh of relief before looking up at the blank screen.

 _'Just two more matches to go'_ he thought. Mikoto, Fugaku, that Rasa kid and he were the only ones left. That meant there would be a high chance of fighting one of his academy classmates. Kawarama's heart began beating slightly faster; he was anxious, yet excited, but also slightly nervous. He couldn't quite focus on one particular feeling. At least, not until the next match was decided.

'Mikoto Uchiha vs Rasa', came the announcement.

Kawarama was confused for a moment.

 _'No clan name?'_ That was unusual. What could be the reason for them not showing the name of his clan. Either way Kawarama realised what this match-up meant. He looked further down the viewing balcony to see Fugaku staring at him with a sinister grin. Kawarama scowled. Fugaku never seemed to like him, and Kawarama could only conclude it was because he was a Senju and Fugaku was an Uchiha. But that didn't seem reason enough be so aggressive towards him. The time when the Senju and Uchiha fought was long gone.

Kawarama turned his attention away from Fugaku and peered down at the soon-to-begin match. Mikoto was smiling; it seemed no matter the circumstances she could always smile.

"Let's have a good fight. What do ya Rasa?" she said. Rasa looked up to the balcony to the Kazekage. The Kazekage simply stared at him coldly. Rasa then turned back to Mikoto.

"You're not even worth getting serious on," he said blankly. Mikoto chuckled.

"Well, I wouldn't be saying that until you've at least seen me fight," she said, looking expectantly at Chiyo. Chiyo regarded her for a moment before half-heartedly saying:

"Begin." The combatants dashed towards each other. Mikoto threw a punch and Rasa effortlessly dodged it. He then grabbed her wrist and delivered a punch to her stomach, knocking the wind out of her. Rasa then pulled the stunned Mikoto forward using her wrist, span and delivered a kick to her back, sending her flying forwards. Mikoto quickly recovered and spun round on the spot. Rasa had already closed the distance and was bringing up his leg to kick her again but she managed to block it with her forearm. She then grabbed his leg and pulled him towards her, much like he did to her, and delivered a blow to his stomach. Unfortunately the strike did not connect, as Rasa had caught her fist. He then jumped up, bringing his other leg up to the same height as his other leg. Rasa then clamped both of his legs around Mikoto's neck and twisted, causing her to topple and collide with the ground. She desperately tried to pry her neck out from between his legs with her one free hand, but it was no use, Rasa had a vice-like grip on her.

Mikoto was in a panic. Rasa was crushing her throat. If he wanted to simply suffocate her into unconsciousness he didn't need to exert this much pressure. Was he really trying to kill her? The lack of oxygen was preventing her from any frantic movements and was slowly draining her strength. Her vision began to darken. She was losing consciousness.

"Stop it!" she heard a voice cry out. It was Kushina. "Stop it! You're killing her!" Rasa's grip did not weaken. Mikoto tried to look up at the viewing balcony. In her peripheral vision she could just make out Kushina go to jump over the railing, but Jiraiya put a hand on her shoulder and shook his head. Jiraiya was stopping Kushina from trying to save her. Why? Did they _want_ her to die? As Mikoto felt her consciousness leave her she heard a different voice. A sinister voice. One she knew well.

"Would you mind releasing my student," said Orochimaru. He was crouched over Rasa, with a kunai to his throat. "I would not appreciate it if you killed her." Rasa loosened his grip slightly. He glanced up at the Kazekage, who merely gave him the same cold stare he had at the beginning of the fight. "If you do not do it quickly, I may just have to remove your legs." Rasa looked up at Orochimaru. An unnerving smile was tugging at the corner of his mouth. Rasa fully released his grip on Mikoto and stood up, then returned to the viewing balcony, without uttering a word. Orochimaru picked up Mikoto's unconscious form. "If you don't mind, I shall be taking my dear student to the infirmary," he said, he then began walking to the door.

Kawarama gripped the railing with as much force as he could muster, primarily so that he didn't vent his anger somewhere else.

 _'That bastard. First he has the balls to say something like_ "You're not even worth getting serious on" _then_ _he nearly kills her! What the hell is wrong with that guy."_ He was brought out of his inward raging by Jiraiya putting his hand on his shoulder. Kawarama turned to him.

"You're up kid," he said. Kawarama turned back to see Fugaku waiting on the lower level. Kawarama took a deep breath to calm his anger. He could deal with Rasa during the third phase, provided they ended up fighting one another. But to reach that point, first he had to beat Fugaku.

Kawarama went to leap over the railing when Kawauso hopped onto his shoulder. Chuckling, Kawarama looked at his friend. "Alright, you ready for this buddy?" Kawauso gave an affirmative squeak. They both leapt onto the ground floor and moved to stand opposite Fugaku.

"Finally, now we'll shall see who is stronger, the Senju or the Uchiha," said Fugaku.

"Well I don't know whole Uchiha and Senju," Kawarama retorted. "But we'll certainly see who's stronger out of the two of us." He glanced at Kawauso, who hopped off his shoulder. A moment later Kawauso was surrounded by a puff of smoke and transformed into an exact copy of Kawarama. Tsume and Kuromaru's jaws dropped.

"H-hey, that's our thing!" she shouted. Kawarama looked apologetically at her.

"Yeah, we'll be borrowing it for a while." Fugaku scowled.

"Taking your eyes off the enemy is a big mistake," he muttered. He shot through a short set of hand seals before holding one of his hands up to his mouth. _'Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu'._ A large flame exploded out of Fugaku's mouth. Kawarama smirked as he looked to the transformed Kawauso return with another jutsu. Water shot from his mouth and collided with the fireball, creating a cloud of steam that filled the room.

Fugaku was practically blind, the steam so thick he could barely see his hand in front of his face. He was aware that Kawarama had a sensory ability, which gave him the upper hand in this fight and Fugaku currently had no way of dissipating the steam. He suddenly felt something hit lower back, which caused him to stumble forwards. He span round, but steam prevented him from seeing where the hit had come from. Fugaku then felt something hit the back of his left knee, then the back of his right knee, making him sink to the floor. He then felt something slam into his left shoulder, which sent him skidding across the ground. When he got up he held out a his right hand and managed to grab hold of a fist that was most likely aiming for his right shoulder.

"Gotcha!" he exclaimed.

"Oh really?" he heard a voice behind him say. The next instant Fugaku felt a blow to his neck which sent him flying. Fugaku was seriously wishing he'd awakened the Sharingan by this point. However, luckily for Fugaku, the steam was beginning to clear.

Fugaku soon managed to make out Kawarama's figure through the steam. He dashed forward and tackled him to the ground, and in the blink of an eye had a kunai to his throat.

"Well, it looks like the question has been answered," he said. But his expression soon turned to one of confusion as Kawarama smirked. Fugaku threw his arm bearing the kunai behind him to hear a clash of metal. He turned his head to see another smirking Kawarama, this one had his one of his ninjato in his hand, blocking Fugaku's kunai. For a moment Fugaku looked between the two Kawarama's. He couldn't tell which was the real Kawarama and which was the otter. Before Fugaku could react Kawarama drew his second ninjato, then pivoted so that they were back to back, spinning the blade round to hold it in reverse grip in front of Fugaku's neck.

"I agree Fugaku, it has been answered," said Kawarama.

Fugaku grit his teeth and shouted a curse before forfeiting. The victory went to Kawarama, who proceeded to high-five Kawauso. The Preliminaries of the final stage of the final stage of the Chunin exams were over.

* * *

 **There it is, hope you enjoyed.**


	21. Time to Train

**Here is the second of the two chapters, Hope you enjoy.**

* * *

Late in the afternoon on the day after the preliminary rounds Kawarama and Minato walked through the streets of the Sand village. They had been given one month to train for the final stage, which would be carried out in the style of a knockout tournament. The nine participants had been split into four brackets. Rasa and Hiashi were in the first, Kawarama and Shibi were in the second, Minato and Inoichi in the third, and the trio of Pakura, Hizumi and Shikaku were in the fourth.

"So what do you plan to do for your training?" Minato asked.

"That's for me to know and you to find out in the final match," Kawarama said with a smile.

"I look forward to it," Minato laughed. "Hiashi certainly seems to be being very secretive about his training as well. I wonder where he disappears off to all the time."

"Planning to spy on his training are we?"

"That's not what I meant. It's just that Hiashi always works himself so hard. What if he sends himself to the brink?There'd be no one around to help him and no one would know where he was," said Minato, looking concerned.

Kawarama stopped and gave his friend a long look. "Minato, we've known Hiashi for seven years. You know as well as I do just how smart and dedicated he is. Sure, he'll work himself to the bone, but he knows when he has to stop. Just trust him, ok?"

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," Minato sighed.

Kawarama began walking again. "So what about you, seeing as you're so interested in everyone else's training? What kind of training do you have in mind?" he asked.

"Well, I'd I was doing some super top secret training, working on some super cool new techniques," Minato replied sheepishly. "But the truth is I'm just going to ask for some help from Jiraiya-sensei."

The conversation ended abruptly as the noise of distant explosions reached them. All around them people looked about in panic. Some began running, others seemed frozen to the spot.

"What could that be?" Kawarama asked, just managing to mask the fear in his voice.

"You don't think the village could be under attack do you?" said Minato.

"I doubt it. No-one in their right mind would attack somewhere that housed members from the five great villages."

Suddenly the buildings on either side of the street where they stood blew outwards, showering them with dust and small pieces of brickwork. The pair crouched on the ground, covering their heads. When the dust began to clear they stood and wandered over to the remains of one of the houses that now lay in ruins. Investigated the rubble they were shocked to find someone familiar lying apparently unconscious amongst the debris. He was covered in blood, his clothes torn to shreds, his white hair a matted, rust-coloured mess.

"Jiraiya-sensei!" they both shouted. He did not respond. Minato looked to Kawarama, who nodded and put his hands together in a seal. He could faintly sense Jiraiya's chakra.

"We need to get him to the hospital, now!" he said. Then they heard footsteps and saw a figure approaching them through the dust. Minato and Kawarama stood between their sensei and the individual who they assumed must have been his attacker. When the dust cleared they were surprised to find Tsunade, grating her teeth, veins pulsing on her forehead, her fists clenched. She wore nothing but a bath towel.

"Jiraiya!" she said through gritted teeth. "If you aren't dead yet you're gonna wish you were." She cracked her knuckles as she walked towards them. At once Kawarama ran up to Tsunade and attempted to hold her back.

"Tsunade, wait! Jiraiya needs to go to the hospital or he'll die!" he said. But she wasn't listening.

"In this place I thought things might be different, but even after your voyage you haven't changed a bit," Tsunade shouted at the inert Jiraiya. It took Minato and Kawarama a while to calm Tsunade down – and stop her from killing their teacher.

Jiraiya was admitted to the hospital and given emergency surgery. When the operation finished he was still unconscious and in a cast that covered his entire body, leaving only his face visible. Minato and Kawarama stood next to his bed. They frowned when they saw his face twisting into an unconscious smile. All concern for their teacher's safety had almost fully dissipated.

"I can't believe it," Minato said.

"Our sensei is a super pervert," Kawarama added. Tsunade had told them all about their teacher's...hobby. And that he was gathering 'evidence' for that hobby by peeking into the women's hot spring. His current predicament was a result of her spotting him. They both sighed simultaneously.

"Well it looks like I'm gonna have to find another way to train," said Minato. "At least you don't have to worry about that."

"The worst part is I do," Kawarama replied. "If I'm honest I was looking to get some help from Jiraiya-sensei as well." He looked to Jiraiya. "But that's no longer an option." He then turned to the door.

"Where are you off to?" Minato asked.

"Luckily I have a backup option," Kawarama replied as he left the room, the door swinging silently as Minato wondered what the hell was going to happen next.

As Kawarama walked the streets, much like he had mere hours before, he ran into Kushina, who was strolling down the road.

"Hey Kawarama, what are you up to?" she said.

"Hey Kushina. Oh, nothing really," he replied. "You wouldn't have happened to see Kawauso around anywhere would you? He kind of ran off this morning."

"I think he's with Hizumi in the southern part of the village. Probably watching her train or something like that." Kawarama frowned.

"Oh he is, is he?" he looked off in the direction where Kawauso might be. When he looked back to Kushina she had a wry smile plastered on her face.

"Jealous are we?" she said. Kawarama's cheeks reddened slightly.

"Why would I be jealous of him, he's an otter. It's not like he could get that close to her."

"You think anyone's told Kawauso that?" Kawarama glared at Kushina for a moment.

"I hate you," he said, before running off leaving Kushina to try and control her laughter.

Kawarama found Kawauso and Hizumi on a raised outcrop section of the southern wall that surrounded the Sand village. There were practice dummies as well as large worn rocks scattered around the area, probably for training, he thought. Kawauso sat watching Hizumi practice her gentle fist technique, but what surprised Kawarama was her addition of kicks and leg sweeps.

"That doesn't seem like the conventional gentle fist," he said. His interruption caused Hizumi to jump. She slowly turned towards him. When she realised who it was she merely smiled.

"Oh Kawarama. Yes, I've never been too much of a fan of the traditional style. The gentle fist is currently a very well known technique, and having observed it on a number of occasions I fear that it becomes fairly predictable. I think adding the use of my legs makes it a little less so." Hizumi's pride in her discovery was clear.

"Well, I didn't mean to disturb you," said Kawarama. He looked at Kawauso. The animal was slowly creeping away, trying – and failing – to be invisible. "I was just coming to get Kawauso." Kawauso then tried to bolt off, but Kawarama managed to catch him and held him up by the scruff of his neck. "You seem to have been enjoying yourself," Kawaram said. "But now we have other business to attend to." He then began to walk off, still holding Kawauso.

"Um, Kawarama." He stopped and turned to Hizumi. "Would you perhaps like to spar for a little while. We didn't really get a chance to back during the second stage," she said. Her cheeks were slightly red. Kawarama's cheeks flushed too.

"Well, wouldn't we be revealing each other's techniques. Wouldn't it be better to wait till the third stage?"

"If it's just a casual spar I'm sure it would be fine. Please, I think it would be good practice even if we don't get serious." Kawarama took a moment before agreeing. He placed Kawauso down and firmly signalled him to stay put. Then he moved to stand opposite Hizumi. Both their faces were reddening.

 _'Why am I blushing?!'_ he thought. _'It's just a simple spar.'_

The 'simple spar' lasted until the sun had fully set. Not once during the entire session did Hizumi activate her Byakugan. By the end both Hizumi and Kawarama were out of breath, but they were happy, and it showed. Kawarama looked up at the rising moon. It cast a pale glow across the village. A beautiful sight, he thought.

"I think it might be to call it a night," he said, turning to Hizumi. She nodded.

"I think you might be right." They stood a moment in silence. Kawarama was the one to break it.

"Well, I'd best be off. I still have a few things I need to do," he said.

"Of course. Good luck with your training," Hizumi replied.

"Thanks, I'll see you in a month's time." Kawarama motioned to Kawauso and began to walk off. Hizumi stood watching him go. She saw something out of the corner of her eye, but when she turned to look, there was nothing there. She dismissed it and began to make her way to the Sand Hotel.

In a nearby building Kushina poked her head out from behind a wooden crate. She had narrowly avoided discovery. She watched as Hizumi walked past, and further down the road Kawarama and Kawauso. She rested her chin on her hand and smiled.

Kawarama and Kawauso walked to a secluded part of the Sand village, and through the usual process, Kawauso returned to Suihimitsu Lake and reverse summoned Kawarama there.

After searching for a few minutes they discovered Usoken sitting by the lakeside. Next to him was a pot held over a small fire, and in his a hand a cup of tea. The pair went and sat on the opposite side of the fire. Without turning his head he said.

"You being here means you have passed the second stage?"

"Yeah," said Kawarama. "I was hoping I could train here for the next month." Usoken did not reply, but instead produced two cups, filling them with tea before handing them to Kawarama and Kawauso. He then sipped from his own cup.

"Very well, we..." he began to say, but was interrupted by Kawarama.

"Great! So what should we do first? Kenjutsu training? Summoning practice? Oh oh, how about we improve chakra control so I can walk on water...but I guess that wouldn't be very helpful in a desert..." He stopped talking with a jolt as Usoken hit him on the head with his walking stick.

"Patience lad. It's far too late to begin your training," said Usoken, stroking his beard. "Tomorrow you shall make use of your shadow clone jutsu and train in four areas. The first shall be Kenjutsu training with Usohime. The second shall be summoning practice with Kawauso. The third shall be jutsu training with Usoki. And the fourth, which you shall do with your original body, will be meditating in the waterfall. I shall be supervising that."

"Cool. But why do I have to meditate rather than a clone, I can create six, wouldn't I be able to do something else and let a clone handle it?" Kawarama asked.

"No. First of all, there is no other training that will be necessary. Second, the meditation will be more affective if it is your original body that undergoes the training. Now finish your tea and we shall retire for the night." And they did just that.

* * *

 **And there you have it the last of my double bill and the herald of my return. I hope you all enjoyed it.**

 **Next time will be the final chapter regarding the Chunin exams. The we can start getting into the good stuff.**


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